The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) suggests that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) latest fuel poverty figures of 3.5m could be somewhat lower than reality.

Less than a fifth of the UK's homes are actually insulated to the necessary standard and many millions of households face the winter with inefficient, expensive to run heating systems.

NHIC Executive Director, Andrew Leech, said: "The Government's own figures confirm that there are well over five million households in the private sector that are in desperate need of repair and renovation. This includes little or no insulation and heating arrangements that are costly to run and ineffectual as competent, reliable heat sources.

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"If our winter is to be as bad as some weather experts are predicting this means that fuel poverty and it consequences is likely to place an exceptional burden on the NHS.

"The Government needs to move rapidly forward with its Energy Bill. Positive initiatives need to be put in place to immediately address this unhealthy situation and establish a firm energy efficiency strategy from which the most vulnerable householders can quickly benefit."

Amongst the NHIC's members who are playing a prominent role in the effort to make the UK's homes more comfortable are the Energy Saving Trust and the National Insulation Association.

(CD/JM)