A woman sits on a bench outside Middleton Shopping Centre. Clutching a 99p McDonald’s cheeseburger, the sun momentarily breaks through the clouds as she points to a friend beside her.
"She’s had to buy four potatoes instead of a bag because she can’t afford it," she says. "We’re devastated – we're devastated because of money. We haven’t got any even though we work full time."
Like millions of people across the UK, the pair are terrified as the cost of living continues to surge. It comes as energy bosses confirmed the energy price cap will rise once again in October – plunging millions into fuel poverty.
READ MORE: Newlywed dad diagnosed with cancer aged 33 after stomach pains and 'excruciating' headaches
Carol Pennington lives on her own. The 63-year-old says she tries not to think about the rising cost of living but feels sorry for those with young children.
"I'm trying not to think about it at the end of the day. I can't spend all the time worrying," she told the Manchester Evening News. We've got no kids but I feel sorry for those who do. What's it going to be like in 20 years' time?
"It's awful – it's rubbish. Petrol is going up every other day. It's hard for people who have to go to work and take children to school."
Neil Richmond was born and raised in Middleton. The 60-year-old believes the cost of living has had a negative impact on the town, seeing some well-known shops in the area recently close for good.
"This town is not the way it was," he told the Manchester Evening News. "I'm 60, I was born here and this wasn't it. Loads of shops have shut down. There was a gentleman's outfitters that was there for years."
Energy regulator Ofgem say they are expecting an energy price cap "in the region of £2,800" amid an already crippling cost of living crisis. Chief executive, Jonothan Brearley, says the main issue concerning the global gas market appears to be Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with prices at times reaching over 10 times their normal level.
Ofgem’s prediction is a huge leap from April’s price cap, which went up by £693 a year to £1,971 – an increase of 54 per cent. The regulator say energy prices could go even higher if Russia further disrupts gas supplies.
On Thursday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of support to help people with the rising energy price cap, including a £400 discount on energy bills for every UK household. And for eight million households on the lowest incomes, households will receive a one-off cost of living payment of £650 which will be paid in two lump sums by the DWP.
Pensioners who receive winter fuel payments will receive an extra payment of £300, while disabled people who receive benefits will also receive extra money. Mr Sunak also announced a levy on energy profits, meaning oil and gas companies will be temporarily taxed 25% on their gains, in a move that both Labour and the Lib Dems had been calling for for some time.
But some have argued the government's £15bn handout won't be enough to help struggling families, with the boss of Asda branding the package a "drop in the ocean." Sir Stuart Rose, the chairman of the UK’s third largest supermarket, said he welcomed the one-off payments but said: "There is still going to be continuing pressure and a lot of toughness for people."
In an online poll Money and savings expert Martin Lewis asked people whether the new support package was 'too much', 'good', 'ok', or 'not enough', and 48 per cent said the measures were not enough to cope with the rising cost of energy.
"I heard about it briefly," 63-year-old Ian Pote-Faulkner says, speaking about the price cap announcement in Middleton. "I just let it blow over because there's not a real lot I can do about it.
"I'm fortunate enough that I'm in a half decent job and not struggling. I'll just have to get my wife to put more layers on, she's forever switching the heating on. Petrol has gone up again since I last topped it up. It's something we have to live with and try and struggle through."
Martin Lewis has said the increase to £2,800 would see the energy price cap rise by 42 per cent. He described the situation as "bloody awful".
Mark Vick, 55, lives in a council-owned property in Blackley with solar panels – but he’s still seen a rise in his energy bills.
"I just don't understand how they come up with the prices - how it's doubled, trebled," he says. "Call me a bit thick but when I get a gas bill it's all mumbo jumbo, I just don't understand it.
"I am worried because I'm not working or anything. You can get away with it in summer but come winter you're going to need your heating on but what can you do?
"How can you fight people; you're just not going to win. They're just too powerful. In the end, you just have to grin and bear it. It's the government who will have to intervene.
"I've noticed an increase in my energy bills and I've got solar panels. I've still noticed a change. In the evening it's cold, you have to have it on. I don't know what I'm going to do.
"There's people worse off than me, so how are they going to cope? I'm on my own now, all my kids have grown up so I only have myself to look after.
"You just have to go along with it. There's no way out. I can moan al I want but you still have to eat and put money on gas and electric. Do they care? I don't know."
