Help IS on the way for households preparing for huge winter energy bills, Tory minister insists - as warning is issued on 'lethal cocktail' of recession and high inflation

Help IS on the way for households preparing for huge energy bills this winter, a Tory minister has insisted. The energy price cap will rise again - sending the average household bill rocketing to £3,549 from October - regulator Ofgem announced on Friday (August 26).

It means the yearly gas and electricity bill for the average household will rise from from £1,971. Energy bills will be around £2,300 more than a year earlier.

The news prompted an outcry. The announcement came amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis, with petrol and household item prices soaring and taxes and interest rates going up.

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Households have been told to brace for a tough winter, with families having to come up with the money to pay bills or face living in the cold.

This morning (Bank Holiday Monday) Victoria Prentis, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told Times Radio: "It's right that people need help and I'm really here to try to reassure that the government is making plans to help people as they will need it with energy bills this winter."

She added: "I would like to reassure that there are many, many different plans being worked on by civil servants and ministers at the moment, and whoever comes in as the next Conservative leader and our next prime minister will have the background work ready and will be able to make those difficult choices very quickly and before it's needed.

Ms Prentis, a supporter of Rishi Sunak, argued that the nationalisation of Britain’s energy industry or freezing the price cap were not the solution, but that targeted support was needed.

"What we need to do is not