In the face of it, they don’t appear to be struggling.

Kelly, 45, doesn’t work, yet she runs a home and a car. She has a justified reason for not working, as she is a full-time carer to her 47-year-old husband, John, who suffers from ME, depression, Hepatitis C and memory loss.

“People think if you’re on benefits you’re loaded. You see that I live in this house, I have this car and I have nice River Island jeans, but the story behind that is that somebody gave us the car, my jeans were £3 secondhand and we live on a rent because the landlady reduced it by £200 so we could live here. So what you think you see isn’t what you see,” says Kelly.

John is almost housebound, placing more demand on household heating and washing. Kelly says they spend between £700 and £1,000 per year on gas and electric, forcing her to look at ways to save costs throughout the year. “We’ve had beans on toast as our main meal. I don’t believe in debt, we go without. I have secondhand clothes, I recycle everything,” she says.

Kelly buys reduced food and in summer uses the extra money from not having to heat their home to stock up on sauces for stews in winter.

Fuel poverty is one of the biggest threats facing Britain’s carers, and with Siberian temperatures forecasted over coming months the Carers’ Resource, a charity offering specialist support, information and guidance to the region’s carers, is highlighting the hardships they face through its hard-hitting Eat Or Heat campaign.

The campaign is designed to highlight how spiralling gas and electric bills are adding to the plight of those looking after loved ones.

Latest figures reveal that around one-in-five households in the Bradford district suffer from fuel poverty – when at least ten per cent of income is spent on fuel. In more deprived communities, this figure more than doubles to almost 40 per cent of households.

The charity, which has offices in Shipley and Skipton, is raising awareness of the help and advice available to carers facing a struggle to make ends meet this winter.

Head of development, Anna Jackson, says: “Carers and those they look after are often the hardest hit by rising energy costs, as they grapple with balancing lower household incomes and higher living costs than the average family.

“This can lead to worsening mental and physical health, mounting debt, plus having to make dreadful decisions when they get up every morning - such as whether to turn on the heating or put food on the table.

“We are determined to ease the hardship encountered on a daily basis by this vulnerable group. We are reaching out to an increasing number of carers to help them switch to cheaper tariffs or suppliers, and advising them on how to make their energy consumption more efficient.”

Judith Hollis, of Eccleshill, has been a full-time carer to her 81-year-old husband James for seven years after he started undergoing dialysis. He had a kidney transplant earlier this year.

Says Judith: “He is only able to walk short distances so spends a lot of time sitting in a chair. As a result of this he feels the cold and I need to keep the house warm to keep him as comfortable as possible.

“With the help of Carers’ Resource, I have been able to negotiate a 6.5 per cent discount on my energy bills, which is a huge help to us. Last winter’s bills were crippling and this reduction will make a difference.

“There are thousands of people like me who care round the clock – our working day never finishes – and I am disappointed that our contribution is not always recognized by Government.

“If we didn’t do what we do, it would cost many thousands of pounds to employ people to do it – but we end up paying extra, through higher energy bills, as a result.”

The Carers’ Resource is lobbying MPs and councillors to seek their support for its campaign to make carers eligible in their own right for a payment under the new Warm Homes Discount Scheme.

Ms Jackson said carers had unique needs and these must be reflected in the new scheme replacing social tariff handouts. She added: “People with limited mobility need more heat to keep warm, continence or other disability-related conditions can mean washing mountains; and very poorly babies may need equipment running 24 hours a day to keep them stable.

“Others who are housebound will be using gas and electricity in many different ways round-the-clock.”

The charity is offering free advice sessions to carers and ‘the cared-for’ on Carers’ Rights Day on Friday, December 2. The open event takes place between 10am and 3pm at both the Central Hall, Keighley, and the Rendevous Hotel, Skipton. For more information, call (01274) 449660 or (01756) 700888.