Older people `risking health due to financial concerns`

Older people in the UK who are struggling with their personal finances, potentially including those with debt problems, are risking their health, it has been suggested.

According to Gordon Lishman, the director-general of charity Age Concern, thousands of such people are cutting back on essential food and heating due to the steep rises in energy bills seen over recent months.

He said: "If older people cut back on their heating during a colder winter, this could lead to a rise in the numbers affected by cold-related illnesses, which contribute to thousands of the excess winter deaths of older people each year."

Mr Lishman added that the government must take action to assist those most in need, adding that Britain has among the highest number of excess winter deaths in Europe.

Figures produced earlier this year by uSwitch suggested that the number of people in fuel poverty has reached 5.4 million in the UK.