The quarterly report examined advice patterns and demographic across the Citizens Advice network of 59 CABs. It found that more than 1 in 6 (16%) of people who sought food insecurity advice also needed utilities advice.

The report also found that the majority of demand for utilities advice was from people from the poorest backgrounds.

Meanwhile, single parent households are twice as likely to seek utilities advice as they are advice generally. The CAB network also continued to see higher levels of demand for cost-of-living related advice from single, non-pensioner households, and council rented tenants - particularly in areas such as crisis support, food insecurity, debt, and utilities.

The charity believes people are increasingly turning to commercial credit for essential spending because they already are behind on their essential bills.

Last week it was confirmed that the energy price cap would increase by £94 on 1 January 2024.

The charity is running “Worried this winter” a campaign that encourages people to seek advice if they are worried about energy bills or the cost of living this winter. People can visit www.cas.org.uk/worried to find an option that works for them.

In a recent example of the type of case CABs are seeing, a disabled women in her twenties and in work phoned her local CAB looking for help after her boiler broke down. The woman already had an unaffordable energy bill on top of the broken boiler, and she wasn’t due to be paid for another fortnight. The CAB helped her with an emergency food bank referral and to fill out a crisis grant application to cover the cost of repairing the boiler.

CAS Director of Impact David Hilferty said: “The Citizens Advice network is a wraparound service – that means when someone comes in with one issue advisers will identify other problems and try and help people through all of them.

“What our latest Cost of Living Analysis shows the crystal clear link between unaffordable energy bills and food poverty, with one in six people who went to a CAB in the past three months needing help with food insecurity also needing help with utilities bills.

“These are figures for the summer and early autumn – it is very likely more people will face the impossible choice of heating or eating this winter.

“We also see that demand for utilities advice is highest from those from the poorest background, which underlines the need for targeted support for these households. The Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity to deliver that additional support, and households already facing real problems will see the price cap for energy bills increase in January as well.

“Anyone who is worried about energy bills this winter should know that the Citizens Advice network is here for them. It costs nothing to check our advice and you could end up thousands of pounds better off. Check www.cas.org.uk/worried to find a route to advice that works for you.”