PENSIONERS marched to Downing Street today with a demand to end deaths of the elderly from cold weather, as new figures on excess winter deaths were released.

Members and supporters of the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) gathered in Trafalgar Square before proceeding to the Prime Minister’s residence, chanting: “Cold homes kill, we can’t pay the bill.”

The demonstration came on the day of an annual report revealing that there had been an estimated 23,200 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2018-19.

Demonstrators carried a black coffin with the number of deaths written on the side.

The figure from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the lowest recorded since the winter of 2013-14 and a significant drop from the previous winter of 2017-18, when there were 49,410 excess winter deaths — the highest since 1975-76.

But NPC treasurer Barry Todman told the Star that the decrease in the number of deaths depended on how cold the winter is rather than what the government may have done since last year.

“Because basically they haven’t done anything anyway,” Mr Todman said. “The thing that kills old people are cold homes and fuel poverty.

“There is a need for someone to actually take notice of the figures, [it is still] a huge number.”

The report concurs that the decrease in excess winter deaths was likely down to milder weather compared to the previous winter and the lower impact of flu on the elderly in 2018-19.

Mr Todman said that Labour’s promise of nationalising energy “is long overdue” and that their pensioners pledge card “looks promising.”

He said: “Unfortunately, a lot of pensioners have been the majority group supporting the Conservative government over the years. We are really hoping that something changes in the next couple of weeks.”

On the election policies of all parties, Mr Todman said he didn’t want to talk about Brexit but the “issues that affect people on a day-to-day basis.”

He said: “It’s not rocket science. People want a decent wage, jobs with security, education, healthcare, homes, pensions — and we all look for a bit of respect.”

Respiratory diseases continue to be the leading cause of excess winter deaths, the ONS data found, while excess winter mortality continued to be higher among women and was highest among women aged 90 years and over.