'It is like going back to the dark ages, people have nothing'

Claire Mills keeps warm under a weighted blanket, which also helps her Fibromyalgia

As part of its Cost of Living: Tackling it Together series, BBC News will be asking people from towns and cities around the UK how they are coping - and revisiting them over the coming months.

Claire Mills, from Matson in Gloucester, is unable to work as she suffers from Fibromyalgia and degenerative disc disease.

Speaking at a weekly support group, the 59-year-old tells BBC News what life is like for her and her community.

We are lucky, we finished paying off our mortgage last year.

But now the gas and electric is nearly a mortgage payment - it's ridiculous. Our bills have gone from £79 a month to £220 and now it's £330. Our mortgage was £538.

Is it going to go up again or down again? They won't put it down will they?

I don't know what they (the government) can do really but it wasn't like this two or three months ago. They need to do something about that. Everyone is going round in blankets.

The cost of food is astronomical. The prices have doubled in some supermarkets for certain things. Bread, butter, your staples that you need for every day. Even milk has gone up. It's £1.50 for a decent loaf of bread whereas six weeks ago it was £1 - it's crazy prices.

We can't afford luxuries anymore. We aren't having takeaways, we can't afford to go out and do anything. It's like going back to the dark ages where people didn't have enough to eat - we're in the year 2022.

All people should be able to afford to live and have luxuries because otherwise why are we working? We're actually living to work instead of the other way round.

You should be able to go to work, have treats, go on holiday but people are having to cut all that back. There is no pleasure. It's just work, come home, maybe have a decent meal or not.

My PIP (personal independent payment) helps me and my husband pay for food. I get both parts (standard and mobility) so I get £500. It has to go into our household funds because I can't work because of my health - some days it's like walking through treacle with my legs because of the Fibromyalgia. So the PIP is part of our monthly money.

Cost of Living: Tackling it Together

Read our reports from other places in the UK:

• IPSWICH: 'I live on ready meals as electric cooker costs too much'

• NEWTOWN: 'Choosing between heat and nappies is my biggest worry'

• DERBY: 'I hotspot the baby monitor instead of paying for wi-fi'

My husband works 13 hours a day. He's out of the house from 05:00 till sometimes 19:00 GMT. When he does come home he falls through the door practically because he's absolutely shattered. But he needs to work.

The people that work in these big corporations, they earn thousands and thousands of pounds a year. They don't realise what it's like for a normal family living in a two or three bedroom house and you have got to choose between paying the electric bill or buying food. There are people around here like that. This is a council estate. There are young families, single parents and they can't afford the bills.

This centre helps them with cheap food and free food but why should we have to resort to that?

None of the prime minsters have money worries. I have got no faith in any of them. They don't live in the real world at all. How can they be expected to know what it's like living on the breadline? Some days you have to choose between a loaf of bread and a pint of milk - there are people out there like that.

These companies are making billions of pounds of profit. Why can't they pay more in taxes or more towards helping people in the community? I'd welcome a windfall tax.

As told to Katie Thompson