CANCER sufferers in Lancashire have needed charity grants totalling almost £700,000 in 2008 to help pay their fuel bills, it has emerged.

Figures from Macmillan Cancer Support UK show that more clients in the county needed support than anywhere else in England, with 31 per cent of its £2.26 million fuel grants going to 1,886 patients.

Merseyside residents needed the next-biggest chunk of cash, with almost £477,000 going to 1,230 people, while in Rutland only two patients needed cash help.

The Lancashire Telegraph’s Dying From The Cold campaign calls for more financial help, as well as community and volunteer work to reduce suffering among elderly and vulnerable people in the cold.

It was launched after East Lancashire’s hospi-tals saw a 30 per cent increase in older people dying from respiratory disease over December and January.

Macmillan director Mau-reen Rutter is calling for a restructure of winter fuel payments to include all cancer patients in the scheme. When solicitor George Macmillan set up the charity in 1911, his main focus was handing out sacks of coal to cancer sufferers who could not afford fuel.

Mrs Rutter said: “Treatments and survival rates for people diagnosed with cancer have improved beyond measure in the last 100 years, which I am sure would delight Douglas Macmillan. But he, like me, would be appalled that his charity is still having to help so many people who are living with cancer to stay warm.

“Cancer patients of all ages tell us they feel the cold more because of the side effects of cancer and its treatment and having to spend more time at home. So their fuel bills soar while their household income has dropped.”

“Our grants can make a real difference to someone with cancer in desperate need, but they cannot be a permanent solution.”

Macmillan benefits advisers can be contacted free on 0800 500 800, or visit www.macmillan.org.uk for information and local contacts.