I use candles for light and skip meals so my girls can eat after my energy bills soared to £760 a month

A MUM has revealed how she is forced to go without food to make sure her children can eat as her energy bills soar to £760 a month.

Struggling single-mother Nicola Elson, 32, spends her nights sat alone by candlelight and away from her children due to the mounting cost of living.

The mother-of-five moved into her two bedroom flat in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in March 2021, but the apartment's bills have since risen by over £200 a month - and she now claims "everything I make goes into the meter."

The energy price cap jumped in April, adding hundreds of pounds to the average household's bills.

Nicola is on a prepayment meter, which needs to be topped up and is more expensive than a standard meter.

More prepayment customers than ever are cutting themselves off from gas and electricity due to the sky-high prices.

The cap for prepayment meter customers soared last month, rising from £1,307 to £2,017 in April.

In comparison, the energy price cap for standard meters climbed to £1,971, although actual bills depend on individual usage.

Nicola says that the surging bills have put such a strain on her family to the point where her kids can't stay with their mum most evenings.

"I'm constantly worrying how I’m going to put money on the meter, put food on the table or even have my children stay over.

"There have been times I have had to pick food or electric, or I have had to borrow off friends and family to get things I have ran out of," said Ms Elson.

Nicola's bills have risen so high that they now cost hundreds of pounds more than her rent.

Often struggling to make ends meet through her job as a cleaner, she has to keep most appliances turned off in her home, and switches on the oven just four times a month to cook in bulk for the weekdays.

Despite her frugal-lifestyle, the cleaner said provider ScottishPower blamed her use of appliances as the reason behind her high costs when she first moved in - despite only owning a fridge-freezer, kettle, oven, and TV at the time.