Around one in seven people in Scotland are struggling to pay their energy bills due to low income, new research suggests.

A poll by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) suggests that around 640,000 Scots are struggling with heating and electricity charges as a result of poor household income.

It comes after the advice service found that a total of 36 per cent of adults in Scotland find their energy bills unaffordable, with 40% of those citing low incomes as a reason.

A further 12% of those asked also cited inconsistent incomes as a reason.

The findings come amid soaring energy bills and reductions to Universal Credit, with CAS warning that the number of people who find their bills unaffordable could continue to rise.

The energy price cap is due to increase in April, with the industry warning bills could increase by as much as 50 per cent.

CAS Fair Markets policy officer Michael O’Brien said the short-term future could prove extremely difficult for consumers on low incomes.

“While energy bills have soared in recent months, it’s important to understand that households on low incomes were struggling with their energy costs beforehand,” he said.

“A quarter of Scottish households are living in fuel poverty, and that’s before the impact of the pandemic, and the crisis in energy markets, is accounted for.

“With prices in the shops rising and a substantial increase to the energy price cap expected in April, the coming weeks and months could be very challenging for consumers on low incomes.”

To try to tackle the growing problem, CAS has been running Big Energy Saving Winter, a campaign encouraging people to get advice to manage increasing energy bills.

Mr O’Brien added: “People don’t have to feel alone, or powerless, as costs rise. The CAB network has been helping people for over 80 years.

“Our free, confidential and impartial advice unlocked around £147 million for people last year through things like social security payments, employment entitlements and debt reductions.

“For energy advice people who saw a gain were around £272 better off.

“We’d like to see policymakers focus on ways to get more money into people’s pockets, but we’re here to help people now.”

The survey, conducted by YouGov, found that of those who were struggling to pay their bills, 80% also cited rising energy costs as a reason, while 65% said the rising cost of living was also contributing.

Poorly insulated homes being hard to heat was also a factor for 24% of those asked.

Further information on Citizen Advice’s Big Energy Saving Winter campaign is available at www.cas.org.uk/besw.