Millions of Britons are struggling to afford basic services such as water and heating, according to a report published yesterday.

The poor pay higher bills, which places an unbearable strain on their already stretched incomes, the report by the National Consumer Council (NCC) said.

The body has called on the Government and utility companies to ensure "lifeline" services - water, gas, electricity and a home phone line - are available to all.

More than three million people have difficulty with their energy bills, 4.7 million are in debt to their water company and one million have had their phone cut off, the report says.

Almost five million people are worried about their water bills.

In total, they owe £781 million - an average of £166 - with many saved from disconnection only because companies cannot cut off the water, the NCC said.

Every winter an extra 20,000 to 50,000 people die because their homes are not warm enough, it adds.

Deirdre Hutton, chairman of the NCC, said: "We are calling for a new policy agenda for household utility services.

"It is an agenda that would make access to affordable 'lifeline' services a fundamental right.

"That right of access should now be underpinned by new responsibilities on utility companies and by revamping the social security system to better reflect the realities of utility bills in the budgets of poorer households."

The NCC says the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should define what proportion of a household budget is affordable to spend on basic services.

It has also called on the watchdogs that regulate the different utilities to require suppliers to improve take-up of low-cost tariffs and follow best-practice procedures for debt management.

Tuesday September 16, 2003