As we look ahead to 2013, it seems almost inconceivable that, more than a decade into the 21st century, older people are dying in this country because they can’t afford to keep warm.

On Monday, the Telegraph & Argus reported that 200 pensioners in the district die during winter each year, with 37,500 households living in fuel poverty.

Age UK Bradford and District warned that the average number of people dying needlessly in winter stands at 26,700 nationally, with 8,000 deaths annually.

Chris Millington, head of operations at the charity, said bad winters had a particularly devastating effect on elderly people already stung by the rising costs of fuel and food.

He said it was estimated that the cost of cold homes to the NHS was a staggering £1.36 billion.

“In Bradford, a lot of work has been done to assist in this area and the local authority is in the top 20 per cent for the lowest average winter deaths for the population of 65-plus years. However, it still means that we will expect around 200 deaths per year,” said Mr Millington.

“It is estimated that there are 37,500 households that are living in fuel poverty, which is defined as spending more than ten per cent of income on fuel bills – a lot higher than the national average.”

He said that while most people would see hypothermia as the biggest threat to older people’s health in winter, it accounts for only one in 100 excess winter deaths.

“In fact, the most common risk factor is cardiovascular diseases – strokes caused by blood-clotting or heart attacks – which account for 40 per cent of excessive winter deaths,” he added.

“In Bradford, it is estimated that more than 23,000, or 33.9 per cent, of the over-65 population have cardiovascular disease. This is again above the average for England.”

News of the risks to elderly people comes as middle-class pensioners who don’t need their winter fuel payment are urged to donate the money to help poorer old people pay their bills.

And there have been calls to have the winter fuel payment – paid at a flat rate of £200 to over-60s and £300 to those over 80 – to be means tested.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said in a speech last month that well-off pensioners don’t need such benefits, and the system needed reviewing.

But Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed that pensioners’ universal benefits will not be touched.

It’s not just less well-off elderly people that suffer in winter. The Government's Fuel Policy Advisory Group recently warned that 300,000 more households were in fuel poverty this Christmas than at the same time last year.

Now families charity 4Children has called for an emergency £100 winter fuel payment for low-income families, after a poll found that 35 per cent of adults fear not being able to pay energy bills.

Soaring energy prices were top of the nation's financial fears for the new year, according to the You Gov poll.

Chief executive Anne Longfield said Government changes to welfare support – including the one per cent cap on benefit upratings announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement – are disproportionately penalising families.

She said a £100 emergency payment could help low-income families keep warm.

Delivering a winter fuel payment to 990,000 workless families and 1.93 million in receipt of both working tax credit and child tax credit would cost the Chancellor £292 million and cover 20 per cent of the average family gas and electricity bill between December and February, she added.

Energy bills topped the list of concerns in the poll, followed by rising petrol prices, rent or mortgage payments and food shopping.

Some 27 per cent were concerned about the effect of capped, frozen or reduced salaries, while 22 per cent were worried about personal debt, 20 per cent about welfare changes, unemployment and local services, and 13 per cent about redundancy.

Ms Longfield said: “These figures show the stark reality that many children may be living in freezing homes this winter, as concerns over soaring energy costs take hold.

“It is imperative that emergency action is taken by Government to negotiate a fairer deal with the energy market, with immediate support for low-income families to help them meet imminent fuel costs.

“Families are telling us that their finances simply will not stretch any further. For many families, the gap between household income and financial outgoings has become dangerously wide, with many middle as well as low-income families facing mounting personal debt and financial hardship.

"If we fail to offer families a lifeline now, our economy and society will pay a hefty price in the future if faced with a legacy of poverty, debt and family crisis.”