Cost of living: Belfast pensioner goes to shopping centre for heat

An elderly woman has said she goes to a nearby Belfast shopping centre most days to keep warm due to the rising cost of living.

Mary McQuillan, 71, told BBC News NI she sits in her house wearing multiple layers of clothing to save heating.

Like many, Ms McQuillan's heating and electric bills have increased in recent months.

Inflation in the UK is rising at its fastest rate for 30 years, as energy, fuel and food costs surge.

On Friday, SSE Airtricity increased its gas prices by 39%.

"There is no way I would be buying what I would have liked to have bought before, a bit of chocolate now and again I suppose," Ms McQuillan told BBC News NI.

"But for heating and electric, it's bad.

"I'm having to wear a heavy housecoat, heavy socks, maybe a pair of jogging bottoms, plus my trousers over the top of them, just to keep myself warm and to keep the costs down."

• Why are energy bills going up?

• Why are prices rising so quickly?

Ms McQuillan says her current financial situation is causing her stress.

"Some nights I can't sleep much and I'm letting this get over me - I try not to but it's hard," she said.

"So I get up in the morning and say I'm going to the Park Centre.

"I go round there for heat. I would sit there people watching, pass time, to save electric and heating. It's terrible.

"It's well the weather is still a bit bright because I'm saving electric until a certain time."

Much of the focus across the UK on Friday is on the increase in the energy price cap which will mean a huge jump in electricity and home heating bills.

However, the cap does not feature in Northern Ireland - it has a separate energy market with its own system of price regulation.

In crude terms, customers in Great Britain get rising wholesale costs passed onto them in two big lumps in the spring and the autumn.

In Northern Ireland, higher (or lower) costs can be passed on incrementally through the year.

For example, on Thursday the gas company Firmus announced its fourth double digit percent price rise since October.

It means that customers in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland experience the pain of rising wholesale prices but each by a slightly different route.

Peter McClenaghan, from the Consumer Council, expects the situation in Northern Ireland to get even worse.

Speaking on BBC Evening Extra, Mr McClenaghan said: "Unfortunately it looks like there will be further gas rises, we know of some of them and it's likely there will be others.

"I wouldn't rule out further electricity rises either.

"Thankfully we're moving out of what is described as heating season, maybe people will be needing to use their heating little a bit less.

"But even looking forward to next winter, I think the challenge is really going to be there for an awful lot of people to be able to afford both their transport costs but also their heating bills.

"It's really quite worrying times for people quite frankly."

Mr McClenaghan also said "it is worrying" that the 5p cut to fuel duty has yet to be passed on to consumers in Northern Ireland.

It was announced by the chancellor last week to help people struggling with the cost of living crisis.

"We have seen a cut of 3.4p on average on petrol and 1.9p on diesel so it's a week after the cut was put in place by the chancellor and consumers here still aren't fully finding that benefit."