Government ministers, energy company bosses and consumer champions including Citizens Advice have held a meeting to try and ease the looming winter crisis.

But there was a warning that people of all ages could be hit by rising prices - with Suffolk families set to struggle across all age groups.

Fuel bills are set to go up by just under 10% in October - a rise that has prompted concern because it comes as the government is preparing to scrap the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

But Dame Clare Moriaty, the national chief executive of Citizens Advice, said while much of the focus had been on pensioner fuel poverty, the charity across the country was actually seeing more inquiries from working-age families on low incomes than it was from older people.

It is understood that is very much the case in Ipswich where families need to borrow from one credit card to pay off another to keep the heating on.

Dame Clare said: “Suppliers really need to step up to the responsibilities that they have to their customers to make sure that if people are struggling they can have repayment plans.

“But it also needs the government to recognise the need for targeted support and that’s something that we would very much like to see coming out of the meeting."New Ipswich Labour MP Jack Abbott said it was important to offer support to the most vulnerable, but the new government was having to cope with the legacy of its predecessor.Ipswich MP Jack AbbottIpswich MP Jack Abbott (Image: Paul Geater)

Ipswich MP Jack Abbott said that the most vulnerable did need support - but the incoming Labour government was having to deal with the legacy of its predecessor.

He said: “This cocktail of failure and chaos is what the new government has inherited. Not just an economic black hole, but a societal one, too.

"One where ordinary working people have lost trust that Westminster can effectively respond to their concerns and represent their interests.

"I am fully committed to turning that inheritance around.”