Michela Morizzo discusses the recent record rise in UK inflation

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The Office for National Statistics revealed this week the Retail Price Index leapt to 12.3 percent while the broader Consumer Price Index inflation figure hit a 40-year-high of 10.1 percent. Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said in response: “To help people during this difficult time, Government support is continuing to arrive in the weeks and months ahead, targeted to those who need it most.”

Pensioners in Romford, Essex, said some people will have to give up certain luxuries in order to keep on top of food and energy bills.

Mary Foster, 74, a retired PA, compared current living standards to those experienced in the 1970s and 80s when the UK saw bouts of high inflation.

She said: “It’s a different standard of living now. We didn’t have necessities people think are necessities now, like mobile phones.

“You see people at food banks with nail extensions, smoking.”

Friend Joan Shepherd, 76, said: “Priorities are all wrong. You should prioritise food and bills. People are spending on things that aren’t necessities. I worry for the children and grandchildren.”

Healthcare lobby group NHS Confederation said on Friday that Britain faces a “humanitarian crisis” this winter when difficult choices forced upon low-income households by soaring energy bills could cause serious physical and mental illness.

Matthew Taylor, its Chief Executive, said: “The country is facing a humanitarian crisis.

“Many people could face the awful choice between skipping meals to heat their homes and having to live in cold, damp and very unpleasant conditions.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far resisted calls to provide extra support to households struggling with higher bills, insisting his government will leave major fiscal decisions to the next PM, who takes office in early September.

The Government has said it is working on a cost-of-living support package for the next Prime Minister to consider. The Labour Party wants to recall Parliament to freeze energy bills.

Farm worker Stephen Pike, 74, told Express.co.uk households have experienced rising prices before.

He said: “We’ve been through this all before. It’s been harder than it is now. This Government has tried their absolute utmost but people just want more and more and more.

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“People don’t know how to budget, to be honest. People are saying the Government need to look after us. We’ve got to keep warm, I know that.

“But people are worrying because they can’t shower twice a day. What’s wrong with a flannel and bowl? When we grew up as kids, we didn’t have anything…

“The younger generation don’t prioritise. They spend the money and worry about it later.”

Retired newsagent Kathleen Wright, 76, from Collier Row, said she was being more careful over her energy use and looking more closely at prices when shopping.

Recalling her youth, she said: “You just made do with what you had. My dad always did overtime when we were young to pay the bills.

“If you want something, you’ve got to save for it. Don’t use credit.”

Her comments came as Britain’s financial watchdog warned on Friday it had told firms offering buy now, pay later loans to stop encouraging “impulse buying” and spell out late repayment fees.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has told so-called BNPL firms and the British Retail Consortium the benefits of on-the-spot, interest-free, short-term loans were being emphasised in adverts without fair and prominent indications as to any relevant risks.

While BNPL loans, which spread repayments on goods such as clothes over a few weeks, are unregulated in Britain, the FCA has powers to intervene in how they are advertised and has forced 4,226 promotions to be withdrawn or amended so far this year.

Sheldon Mills, the FCA’s Executive Director of Consumers and Competition, said: “As we face a cost-of-living crisis, consumers are having to make difficult decisions about their finances and how they pay for goods and services.”

Cypriot Ahmed Ali, 62, from Sidcup, admitted to feeling the pinch amid soaring food and energy bills, but added: “I’m worried about the next generation. They will suffer.”

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