Household bills put families under pressure

Figures released by the ONS today and analysed by the Daily Telegraph suggest that the average family household bills are £1300 a year more than they were twelve months ago. The newspaper found that the five biggest bills faced by most families - fuel, food, mortgage, petrol and council tax - rose from £1200 last year to an average of £1307 this year.

Ruth Lea, an economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, told The Telegraph: 'This is why so many people will feel such a squeeze this year. The price of essential bills affect people hugely in the way that the price of a plasma-screen TV does not.'

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