West Someset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has appealed to families in rural areas to keep an eye on elderly and vulnerable neighbours as winter approaches.

He says cost-of-living increases and the “very real possibility of power cuts” could leave some older people more in need of support than ever, with the risks greatest in households which rely solely on electricity for heating.

Mr Liddell-Grainger, whose Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency includes most of Exmoor national park, said the normal problems linked to isolation, sparse populations and a lack of main services were inevitably accentuated in winter.

“This time round, however, we are looking at the additional possibility of power cuts, which in households which have no alternative methods of heating could literally put lives at risk,” he said.

“Those who have invested in woodburners will at least be able to keep themselves warm, but I know of many rural homes where the electric kitchen range or radiator is still the only heat source.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said it was gratifying to know that in some villages neighbourhood networks had been established to pass advance flood warnings through the community as rapidly and promptly as possible.

“But I would ask every community to extend that concept of neighbourliness to keeping a regular eye on the wellbeing of older and more vulnerable residents; to making sure they are warm and have access to hot food; and to alert the authorities immediately if they have any concerns about their general wellbeing.”