A MUM has told how she is forced to use candles to light her home and use a camping stove to cook because of crippling energy bills.
Carol Chambers, 47, was cut off by her electricity supplier – but has put together a “survival pack” to get herself through the winter.
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It comes as energy bills are set to rocket to £3,549 on average per year, piling further misery onto households.
And Carol, from Scotland, lives on £500 Employment and Support Allowance each month.
She told The Daily Record: “I’m doing this partly as a protest but I can’t afford to turn my heaters on in any case. It will cost a tenner a day for my storage heaters to be on and that would swallow up the vast majority of my monthly cash.
“All the other stuff, like my iPhone, iPad, lighting and cooking I can get from sunlight and gas canisters.”
High energy bills are contributing to a rapid rise in inflation and the Bank of England warned earlier this month that households should prepare for a 15-month recession as inflation hit its highest level in 42 years.
Carol said: “My daughter has told me I’m taking things too far and she wants me to get the electric back on. I have bought in catering flasks and I will fill them in the morning from the gas stove.
“I intend to go to the local swimming pool every day to get showered and there are free electricity charging points where I will charge my power banks. I’ve got a plan and I’m going to stick to it.”
Carol has been stocking up for the long, cold Scottish winter – buying supplies from budget supermarkets.
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She said: “I got a job lot of gas canisters and some solar powered lamps from Black’s and then I got a camping stove.
“I can cook all I want on the stove and I just have to accept there will be some difficult times ahead. But I’ll be OK.”
The bleak winter ahead will leave many Brits asking if it’s justifiable that energy bosses are taking home a staggering £15million, while hard-up households face choosing between heating and eating.
Martin Lewis was brought close to tears as he explained the “catastrophic” rise to energy bills on BBC Breakfast.
National Energy Action, has warned that the rise in the energy price cap will mean 8.9million households will fall into poverty this autumn.
