WEST Dorset MP Edward Morello has backed a campaign to try and block Government plans to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

Mr Morello, who said West Dorset would be the second most impacted constituency in the UK as a result of the changes, warned some pensioners will be "forced to choose between eating and heating this winter".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under growing pressure on the decision to axe the payments to help the public finances.

Around 10 million pensioners not receiving benefits will lose the payment of up to £300 from mid-September, saving £1.4bn this financial year.

If passed, a Liberal Democrat parliamentary motion would protect pensioners by blocking the move from becoming law and restoring their payments, which helps with heating bills in the cold winter months.

Analysis from the Department of Work and Pensions shows an estimated 26,662 pensioners in West Dorset are at risk of losing the £300 payment, which helps with heating bills in the cold winter months.

In South Dorset 23,216 pensioners would be affected.

Mr Morello said: “I, along with all 72 of my fellow Liberal Democrat MPs, have backed a motion to block the Government’s plan to cut winter fuel payments to local pensioners.

"West Dorset is the second most impacted constituency in the UK and for many residents this is a vital benefit. Withdrawing the WFP means that some will be forced to choose between eating and heating this winter. It is incredibly important that the Government rethinks its decision.”

Under the government’s changes only those pensioners who receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits will still get the £300 winter fuel allowance towards the cost of their energy bills.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the decision to restrict winter fuel payments despite rising energy bills.

She said: “When I became Chancellor of the Exchequer, I inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.

“Taking no action wasn’t an option, because that would have made it difficult for the Government to finance its needs, and we would have ended him up in the same position that the previous Conservative government ended up in, with mortgage rates and interest rates spiking and pensions being put in peril."

As well as the expected rise in fuel costs coming into the winter months, the average household energy bill is to increase by £149 from October after Ofgem said it was increasing its price cap.

It means the price cap will increase by 10 per cent from the current £1,568 for a typical household in England, Scotland and Wales to £1,717.

Charity Age UK said it “strongly” opposes means-testing the payment because it means “as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in serious trouble as a result”.