Increasing numbers of sick and terminally ill people across the Westcountry are being forced to rely on charity handouts to heat their homes, a cancer group has revealed.

New figures have revealed a sharp rise in the number of cancer sufferers devoting their efforts to dealing with spiralling fuel bills rather than fighting the disease.

A third more patients have resorted to Macmillan Cancer Care grants in some parts of the region, with 332 people claiming almost £65,000 last year in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

Cancer survivor Rose Woodward said the majority of people lost their jobs following diagnosis.

Mrs Woodward, the former chairman of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Cancer Patient and Carer group, said the surge was "a reflection of the economic climate", adding that patients in rural areas, particularly the elderly, were hit harder by high living costs and low wages.

"When your health is compromised by a chronic or terminal disease the last thing you want is the extra stress of worrying about heating," she added. "It is so important that people are warm – stress puts extra pressure on the immune system when you need to keep as healthy as possible – it becomes a vicious circle.

"There is not much [help] around and that is the terrible thing that people have to rely on charities for things that other people might class as normal when they are working such as over-the-top heating bills."

Macmillan Cancer Support said seven out of ten people under 55 saw their income halved after falling ill.

However, this is made worse as bills often rise as people spend more time at home and feel the chill more because of their treatment.

The charity helps 600 cancer patients a week in the UK with a one-off payment to help meet living costs.

In five years this annual cost to the charity has almost doubled, climbing from £1,398,678 paid to 7,369 patients in 2006, compared with £2,548,563 and 12,669 people last year.

More than £21,200 was doled out to 101 people towards energy bills in Cornwall in 2011, up on 2010. A further £26,900 went to 154 people in Devon and £16,140 to 77 cancer patients in Somerset, increases of 33 and 35 per cent respectively.

Sarah Beaven, a cancer information and support specialist for the region, lamented that little had changed since Macmillan began handing out sacks of coal to patients 100 years ago.

"It is shocking that a century on, people who are diagnosed with this devastating disease are still relying on charity help to heat their freezing homes," she added.

Macmillan grants are means tested but not confined to people on low incomes, with a couple with two children eligible even with a disposable income of almost £24,000 after paying rent or a mortgage.

A pensioner with almost £8,000 left each year – excluding benefits and savings – would still qualify.

There have also been calls for the review into fuel poverty – those who use at least 10 per cent of their income to pay for heating – to prioritise those with cancer.

Sheila Curzon, the National Pensioners Convention chairman in Devon, who has recently been diagnosed with and undergone treatment for cancer, said the mild winter had meant the financial situation for pensioners had "not been too bad" but said the recent plunge in temperatures would see bills rocket.