MEMBERS of the Unite union will join fuel poverty and pensioner groups in protesting at 40 locations across Britain today as part of a nationwide campaign of action over a barrage of bill rises coming into effect.

Further demonstrations are planned over the following two weeks as part of the Unite Energy 4 All campaign, calling for the eradication of fuel poverty and national control of this country’s energy resources.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It’s time to end the chaos in our energy network, which allows profiteers to flourish while workers and communities are left in the cold.”

The union accused energy regulator Ofgem of having “totally failed to regulate” the nation’s energy market.

Households on the lowest incomes are “already stretched to breaking point” even before “awful April” brings higher prices for everything from energy to council tax, Citizens Advice has warned.

Those on the lowest 10 per cent of incomes are already spending around two-fifths of their earnings — after housing — on water, energy, broadband and car insurance bills, according to a study of social tariffs by the charity in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the Financial Fairness Trust and Policy in Practice.

Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said: “We want to see people eligible for bill support automatically enrolled to receive it. This change can’t come soon enough.”

IPPR director of research and policy Professor Ashwin Kumar said: “Well-designed social tariffs and bill support — across water, energy, broadband and insurance markets — could save households hundreds of pounds a year and provide a vital lifeline to some of the most vulnerable people across the country.”

Energy bills are to go up by 6.4 per cent when regulator Ofgem raises its price cap for a third consecutive quarter.

Water bills will also increase by an average £123 per year — the biggest jump since the industry was privatised in 1989 — with most councils in England planning to raise council tax bills by the maximum of 4.99 per cent next month.

Broadband and phone bill and the television licence charge are also rising, as is car tax, with electric vehicles no longer exempt.