East London boroughs have among the highest rates of fuel poverty in the country, figures reveal.
The latest data from the government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) shows 22.5 per cent of households in Barking and Dagenham (16,738) were fuel poor in 2019.
This is the highest proportion in the country and 9,621 more households than in 2015.
Newham had the third-highest rate with 21.7pc of 108,572 households (23,569) - up 7,374 from four years earlier.
Only seven out of 312 local authorities around the country had a fuel poverty rate above 20pc.
In Redbridge, 15.4pc of households - 16,336 out of 105,841 - were fuel poor, after rising 4,766 since 2015.
This compared with 14.2pc in Tower Hamlets (15,290 households) and 13.2pc in Havering (13,655).
Nationally, 13.4pc of households, or 3.2million, were fuel poor in 2019.
A household is fuel poor if it lives in a property with low energy efficiency and would be pushed below the poverty line by housing costs and the energy bills needed to have a warm and well-lit home.
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