DESPITE Wiltshire being one of wealthiest counties in England, some 22.5 per cent of its population nearly 140,000 people are deemed to be suffering from 'fuel poverty'.

This means they spend more than ten per cent of their income to achieve adequate levels of warmth in their homes, according to figures issued by Warm Hearted Homes, based at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in Devizes.

Every winter over 50,000 people die in the UK from diseases related to being cold bronchitis, pneumonia, heart attacks and strokes brought on by being cold, and hypothermia.

This is in contrast to Siberia, where temperatures regularly sink to 40 C degrees, but where no one dies as a direct result of being cold.

Though most of the people diagnosed with fuel poverty are elderly, they are from all classes of society.

Jo Badham, of Warm Hearted Homes, said: "Some of the people I meet are living in big houses, often in isolated rural areas.

"Their family has grown up and left home and they find heating their houses a very expensive business. Sometimes they will keep just one room in the house heated and spend most of their time there."

The cost of heating a house can vary enormously. Gas and oil-fired central heating is cheapest at about £450 a year for a three-bedroom house.

Solid fuel central heating costs about £560 a year. Using electric storage heaters can cost about £610 a year, with liquidised petroleum gas (LPG) costing £1,005 a year.

For many people living in rural locations, the LPG option is often the only realistic one. Some 37 per cent of people living in Wiltshire and Swindon have no access to mains gas and the cost of installing oil-fired central heating can exceed £5,000.

Warm Hearted Homes is operating the Health through Warmth scheme in Wiltshire and Swindon, funded by £10m from Npower and its partners, National Energy Action, the NHS and the local authorities.

Its aim is to use front-line workers, such as social workers, health visitors and community volunteers, to identify householders who are suffering from ill health due to cold and to help them get the financial help and advice.

Warm Hearted Homes has operated a free helpline for the past four years. It operates from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and can be contacted on 0800 512 012.

Jo Badham said: "Sometimes it can be as simple as a young mum moving into a strange flat and not being able to work the central heating timer.

"Other calls are more complex and could involve putting them in touch with another agency to arrange welfare benefits."