A SINGLE mum says she is "so scared" for her family over winter - after another energy price cap rise was announced.

Kelly Thomson, 44, already spends nearly half her disposable income on electricity and gas for the three-bed home she shares with her son, 14, and daughter, 11.

But she says the money she scrimps to pour into her pre-payed electric and gas metres only lasts her four days in winter, five in summer.

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After that the family has to go without heating, hot water and electricity - and can't cook food until she can make another payment at her local shop.

The typical household energy bill is set to rise by about £800 a year in October, the energy regulator warned yesterday (25/5).

Ofgem said the energy price cap, which limits how much providers can raise prices, is expected to increase to £2,800 a year due to continued volatility in gas prices.

And this rise is expected to plunge millions more into fuel poverty - when a household has to spend 10 per cent or more of its disposable income on energy.

Kelly, from Slough, said she's already pushed to the brink and can only afford to eat one meal a day - she gives the children breakfast and they get free school meals.

She said: "I'm so so scared and worried in case this happens. I couldn't take any more rises in costs. I just can't do it.

"I wouldn't survive the winter without gas or power for over half of every week. I'm too skinny already.

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"The doctor said I'm underweight and he put it down to stress and lack of food. I cry every night and I'm constantly worried about the kids.

"This is having such a terrible impact on my mental and physical health. There will be riots and suicides, people can't manage any more.

"If I didn't have my children and I wasn't so strong I wouldn't be here. I'm disgusted with Boris Jonson, how is he still running the country?

"He just does what he wants and hands money out for the most stupid things while people suffer. They're taking from the poor to feed the rich.

"It's disgusting all this money has to be wasted because he had a party while people are starving.

"He wastes money decorating his house and everyone else is trying to feed their kids and making massive sacrifices.

"I feel so trapped. I just want to pick up a bag and leave this house and never look back - I can't live like this anymore. I just feel so ill.

"I'm so tired, just shattered, and too scared to even put the telly on. Mental health services are at full capacity already."

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Kelly, who had to stop working when she got long Covid in January 2020, manages a budget of £36 Universal Credit a week, plus £35 child benefit.

She pops £15 a week into each of her gas and electricity pay-as-you-go meters and spends the remaining £40 on a weekly Lidl shop - snapping up yellow-label items.

Kelly turns to her neighbour to heat up food when the gas runs out and her kids snuggle up under duvets and blankets and wear four jumpers and two pairs of trousers each.

They play board games, desperately trying to keep the chill off their hands, and light their home with candles when the power goes.

The fridge switches off too, putting Kelly's meagre supplies at risk, so she asks her neighbour to keep food cold for her.

Sometimes Kelly's neighbour feeds the family, and the mum-of-two uses the food banks at least once a fortnight.

And she says she has already been forced to sell some of her kids' belongings - including Christmas and birthday presents.

"My neighbour is so kind, but I'm embarrassed", said Kelly. "And we've got nothing left. The struggle is real already, but by October it's going to be ten million times worse."

ENDS