Thousands of energy efficiency upgrades have been installed in Woking homes since a government scheme to fight fuel poverty was launched, recent figures show.

The Energy Company Obligation was introduced in 2013 to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions across Great Britain.

It requires some energy suppliers to help poorer and more vulnerable households to heat their homes, including installing insulation or upgrading a heating system.

Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action said schemes like the ECO "have made a huge positive difference to vulnerable people", but warned increases in energy prices "mean a warm home remains unaffordable for millions of households".

Last week energy regulator Ofgem increased the energy price cap by 2%, taking the energy bill for the average household paying by direct debit for gas and electricity from £1,720 to £1,755 per year.

Recent figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero show 2,717 ECO measures have been installed in Woking since the scheme launched in 2013.

It means around 69 measures per 1,000 households have been set up in the area.

Across Great Britain nearly 4.3 million measures have been installed, representing about 153 upgrades per 1,000 people.

Peter Smith, director of policy and advocacy at National Energy Action, said: "When delivered well, energy saving schemes like the ECO have made a huge positive difference to vulnerable people, helping to keep homes warmer for less money.

"Despite this, recent increases in energy bills mean a warm home remains unaffordable for millions of households.

"The UK Government is also on course to miss their legal obligation to bring all fuel poor households up to a reasonable standard of energy efficiency by the end of this decade."

The increase in energy costs comes despite wholesale prices falling by 2% in the three months prior to Ofgem’s latest price cap decision.

However, standing charges – the figure consumers pay per day to have energy supplied to their homes – are set to rise by 4% for electricity and 14% for gas, or 7p a day, mainly driven by the Government’s expansion of the Warm Home Discount.

Some 2.7 million more low-income households are eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount this winter, after the Government confirmed it would remove the "hard to heat" eligibility criteria.

Mr Smith said: "The UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan provides the biggest opportunity in decades for millions of fuel poor households to live in warm, healthy homes.

"Although significant, the investment that has already been allocated needs to be prioritised to meet legal fuel poverty targets and provide the greatest assistance to fuel poor households who live in the leakiest homes.

"It should be seen as a crucial plank of a plan to reduce the impacts of a cost of living that has become difficult to meet for millions."

Fuel Poverty Action spokesperson Jonathan Bean said: "Unaffordable energy is forcing millions of us to ration our heating and suffer in cold homes in winter.

"This is especially dangerous for older and disabled people.

"Government home retrofit schemes can help bring bills down, but people should check that the company they chose is listed by their local authority and that work is done properly."

Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey said: "We are taking urgent action to support vulnerable families this winter, expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to more than six million families, which helps one in five households with their energy bills.

"In the coming weeks, we will be announcing details of the biggest home upgrade programme in British history to improve up to five million homes, making them cheaper and cleaner to run.

"Wholesale gas costs remain 75% above their levels before Russia invaded Ukraine. The more renewables on the system, the cheaper the wholesale price of electricity, which is why the only answer for Britain is this government’s mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control."