Older people should be receiving financial assistance if they are struggling to meet their heating bills, the government has made clear.

Millions of pensioners take advantage of grants designed to help elderly Britons to pay their heating bills and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has encouraged pensioners to apply for the benefits they could be entitled to.

Furthermore, the DWP has urged the UK's pensioners to take steps to insulate their home more effectively and pointed out that almost a third of every £3 that is spent on heating bills is effectively wasted due a lack of energy effectiveness.

Phil Woolas, environment minister, commented: "Everyone's home needs to be energy efficient all year round and it's never too early to look ahead to keeping warm next winter."

The Help the Aged charity recently claimed that the state pension is failing to cover the rising cost of living for millions of elderly people across the UK.