MORE than 700 Bolton people could die needlessly from winter cold over the next three years, it was claimed today.

The environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth today published a list of predicted "Excess Winter Deaths" or EWD's.

And they claim that by the next General Election, there could be as many as 17,500 cold-related deaths in the North West as a whole.

Of Bolton's three parliamentary constituencies, Bolton North East fares the worst in the FoE predictions list with 253 avoidable deaths.

Bolton South East is next with 247 followed by Bolton West with 237.

FoE says the very old and the very young are the first to suffer from the effects of cold but people with respiratory problems such as asthma also suffer.

Worst

The United Kingdom has the worst record for excess winter deaths in the whole of Europe. The number of deaths between the beginning of December and the end of March increases by an average of 30 per cent compared with the other four month periods.

Countries such as Sweden and Norway have colder climates than Britain but still manage to keep their increases in winter deaths down to 10 per cent.

According to Friends of the Earth the reason for the UK's "abysmal record" is the poor energy efficiency of many UK homes. About 15 million people in this country are from households suffering from "fuel poverty".

In last week's budget Chancellor Gordon Brown announced an extra payment to pensioners of £100 to help with winter fuel costs.

But Friends of the Earth say that this money is badly targeted because it does not tackle the issue of the energy efficiency of homes.

Last year Linda Gilroy, MP for Plymouth Sutton, introduced a Private Member's Bill aimed at tackling the problem.

Bolton MPs David Crausby and Brian Iddon backed a motion supporting the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Bill. Ruth Kelly, the other Bolton MP, was barred from supporting the motion by her status as a Parliamentary Private Secretary.

In support of the Bill, Trade Secretary Stephen Byers said: "Simply shovelling money at people to heat the skies above our towns is hardly a sustainable use of resources. Nor will it help the fuel poor very much - because of their bad housing many of them will still be cold no matter how much money they spend on fuel."

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