THE scale of fuel poverty in Scotland has been laid bare by a major survey which has found that one in seven households make lifestyle sacrifices in order to afford their energy bills.

A poll of of nearly 5,000 homes across Scotland found that many families went cold during the winter because of the high cost of heating and electricity and the fear of running up large bills.

The survey was carried out as a part of the Big Energy Switch, a Scotland-wide people power campaign to cut the cost of electricity and gas which aims to use the buying power of 20,000 Scottish households to unlock group-discounted energy in Scotland.

More than half of those who made sacrifices in order to keep their homes warm also said that they had to turn the thermostat down past the point they were comfortable much of the time.

Big Energy Switch campaign director Michael Stewart said that the survey revealed the problems faced by many people when trying to cope with the cost of electricity and gas.

He said: "There's clearly something wrong when a basic cost such as your heating bill is so much that people can't afford to be comfortable at night.

"Scottish energy prices have risen nearly four times faster than household incomes since 2003 and these survey results give evidence to the pressure these rises have put on Scottish families.

"The first thing we can do to help these people is ensure they're not paying more for their energy than they have to. That's why I'd encourage everyone to join me in Scotland's latest people power campaign."

One Big Switch is one of the world's fastest growing consumer movements, with over 700,000 members, and has previously campaigned to unlock group-discounted energy, and spark energy price wars, in Australia and Ireland.

More than 1200 Scots signed up to the campaign in its first day of opening, and the movement is on target of 20,000 participants with the next four weeks.

One member, father of five Reverend Iain Greenshields, of Dunfermline, said that he has seen the hardship caused by high energy prices on Scottish families.

He said: "In my parish are some of the most vulnerable families in Scotland and it is there that high energy prices really hit hard. I have heard stories of mothers going without food to heat their homes for their children and pay for electricity.

"One of the reasons we have seen a rise in food banks is because people are making the choice between keeping the lights and the heating on this winter and food. It's literally 'heating or eating' for some of them.

"High energy prices disproportionately affect single mothers, families working on the minimum wage, pensioners and those on benefits. And energy is the one thing that's fundamental to us all."

He added: "While my family are not having to make massive sacrifices, there is still a huge outlay on our energy bills compared to other necessities. What really bothers me is not the energy prices, but the profits the companies make at the end of the day.

"You can't take energy companies at their word. They said they would bring their bills down and that's never happened. They put their bills up every winter.

"We do things to cut down our energy use, like making sure to switch off things that aren't needed and watching how we use the heating, and we cut our bills by about 5 per cent.

"But then the energy companies just put their bills up by the same amount and any savings get eaten up."

Energy worker Jason McKay, of Glasgow, installs boilers for low-income families with his company Go Blue Energy Conservation.

He said: "We see families struggling to keep their homes warm day in, day out. The biggest complaint is meters that use chip-and-pin cards. People say they just eat up energy.

"We had a young single mother on benefits who couldn't thank us enough for our services because she was paying £60 a week for her electricity.

"People are being forced to make tough choices about heating and lighting their homes because of the greed of the energy companies."

Big Energy Switch is already in talks with energy companies about securing a deal, but it will only be finalised once firms know exactly how many people have signed up.

This offer will then be put to the participants who can then either take the new deal or use it to negotiate a better price with their current supplier.

If they do decide to switch, then One Big Switch receives commission from the energy firm.

The Sunday Herald contacted Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, but they failed to respond.