CAMPAIGNERS claim hundreds of people in East Lancashire are dying because they cannot afford to heat their homes.

The area's MPs are being urged to support a bill to make homes more energy efficient - and therefore warmer in winter - reducing cases of flu and hypothermia.

Friends of the Earth, who are organising the Campaign for the Warm Homes Bill, say at least two thirds of more than 600 "excess" winter deaths in East Lancashire can be linked directly to cold homes.

Government statistics for winter 1998/99 show there were 604 extra deaths from December to March, compared to other times of the year.

Of those deaths, 107 were in Blackburn, 99 in Burnley, 102 in Rossendale and Darwen, 98 in Hyndburn, 106 in Ribble Valley and 92 in Pendle.

Friends of the Earth say the elderly and other vulnerable groups are most at risk, as they struggle to pay their fuel bills and cannot raise the capital to make their homes more energy efficient.

Tory MP David Amess is to introduce the Warm Homes Bill, with a second reading on March 10, to create a national programme for installing energy efficiency measures, such as insulation and efficient heating systems.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said: "There are many people in my constituency and in East Lancashire who are in homes that were literally thrown up.

"They suffer from the freezing cold and the biting winds that are normal in winter for this neck of the woods. "I shall be backing the bill."

Geraldine Moore, chief officer for Age Concern Lancashire, which covers Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, said: "We deplore the fact that in the year 2000, older people are still dying from the cold. It is appalling.

"We welcome this bill but we would still ask the Government to consider increasing the pension so people can both eat and heat their homes, and not have to make a choice between the two."

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