An initiative hoped to remove people's stark choice between heating and eating has helped more than 4,000 people in Kingston since it began three years ago.

The npower Fuel Bank, run in conjunction with Kingston Food Bank, was set up to help people struggling to pay for gas and electricity with vouchers for their prepayment meters.

Regardless of their supplier, people using the food bank who are at the point of choosing between living without heating, cooking or lighting, are given about two week's worth of gas or electricity - £30 in summer and £49 in winter.

Barnard, a client at one of the Kingston Foodbanks explained how he ended up there and how the fuel voucher helped him: “I used to work as a removals man to keep me and my son afloat, but years of lifting damaged my back.

"I trapped a nerve in my spine and now suffer from postural headaches which cause me to black out. I had to stop work and relied on disability benefits. In November, these stopped, leaving me without money for the winter. Going hungry a few times isn’t the end of the world - you learn to eat less. It was the cold that got to me.

“I visited the food bank hoping that eating a little more could help me weather the cold. I was also offered help with my fuel bills - it was a life saver. Having a warmer flat really helped ease the pains, I also didn’t have the stress of having to choose between food or fuel, or health or debt.

“In January, the government realised they’d been wrong to deny my benefits and back-paid the benefits to November. I’m doing a bit better now and am able to stay on top of the bills, but without fuel voucher, I would have had a very difficult winter.”