Million UK households must choose heating or eating as bills rise
City wraps lampposts with airbags to protect ‘smartphone zombies’
THIS winter more than a million households in the UK will regularly face a choice between “heating or eating”, new research claims.
Pensioners and the parents of young children will face some of the toughest choices as energy bills soar.
Hot showers and baths will be rationed in 52 per cent of households with elderly people and 36 per cent of households with children.
The cost of utility bills has left a third of the adult population worried that at times they will have to go without gas or electricity altogether, even as the temperature plummets.
Almost half – 46 per cent – will reduce their heating use, rising to 53 per cent for those with children.
Four per cent of people are prepared to miss out on hot meals to save money on bills, rising to 13 per cent of those not in full-time work.
However, 57 per cent of those surveyed said they were unaware of any financial help or advice being offered to those in difficulty. The survey was commissioned by energy supplier npower, which announced a price rise of 9.8 per cent this year.
It coincides with the launch of a charitable foundation funded by the utility company, which also aims to expand the Fuel Bank initiative it set up in 2015.
Fuel Bank provides immediate support for people in fuel crisis, giving two weeks’ worth of emergency gas and electricity to Foodbank users.
MP Frank Field, who supports the initiative, said: “Thousands of my constituents on the brink of destitution have been rescued by emergency fuel vouchers.
“Npower deserves huge credit for both recognising and acting on our concerns about the wicked choice some of our poorest residents face between heating and eating, and the dire straits facing those who can afford neither food nor fuel.”
For information visit npower.com/ npowerfoundation PEDESTRIANS distracted by their mobile phones – known as “smartphone zombies” – have become such a problem that one city has wrapped airbags around their lampposts because so many people are walking into them.
The airbags in Salzburg, Austria, carry the message: “Is the next car also as well padded? Watch yourself, not your mobile.”
One in five pedestrians is at risk from being distracted by their phones, according to research carried out in the city. They are apparently involved in more accidents than cyclists, motorcyclists and car drivers.
Salzburg health and safety expert Martin Pfanner said: “We are of the opinion that when people see this very public warning of the dangers, they will change their behaviour.”
And according to interviews in the local media it seems the measure might be working. Many said the message reminded them to take more care and they put their phones into their pockets.
Meanwhile, in China sections of some pavements are being reserved for smartphone users.
In Honolulu anyone looking at their phone while crossing the road can be fined.
And in the German city of Augsburg, traffic lights are being placed at ground level so they can be seen more easily.