CHARITIES in the Westcountry are calling on the Government to do more to help the elderly survive harsh winter months, writes the WMN's Petra Mann.

The call comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures showing 2008/09 had the highest number of winter deaths in almost 10 years.

There were an extra 36,700 deaths in England and Wales from December 2008 to March 2009, compared with the average for non-winter periods.

This was the highest number since the winter of 1999/2000 and a rise of 49 per cent compared with 2007/08.

In the South West there were 2,560 deaths in 2007/08 rising to 3,800 for 2008/09.

Ann Ovens, chief executive at Age Concern, Exeter, described the rise in winter deaths as "significant" and that more needed to be done to help the elderly.

She said: "The recession has obviously had quite an impact on older people's savings because the interest has dropped quite a significant amount.

"When people have less money they tend to cut back on things like heat which obviously has an effect on their health.

"In rural areas particularly, older people tend to live in older houses which are not so well insulated. We need greater awareness of what's available to older people in terms of grants and the Government must do more to help older people meet the cost of fuel."

Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action warned a combination of high energy prices, low incomes and poor insulation will continue to pose a serious threat to the health of millions of people in the coming months.

Jenny Saunders, chief executive, said: "The Government needs to step up action that will end these shameful statistics and comprehensibly tackle fuel poverty in the UK."

Temperature and levels of disease in the population are two of the key factors which contribute to the number of deaths.

The greatest number of excess winter deaths occurred in people aged over 85, the ONS figures showed.

Women accounted for the highest number of excess deaths, a fact mostly explained by the higher number of women than men over 85, the ONS said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Last year was colder than average, which explains some of the extra deaths seen. The Keep Warm, Keep Well campaign offers important advice to older people on how to stay fit and healthy through the winter and our seasonal flu vaccination programme is one of the most successful in Europe."