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More and more energy customers are worried about whether they can afford to "eat and turn on the lights" this winter

The head of the Citizens Advice charity warned on Tuesday that a large number of energy customers are worried about whether they can afford to "eat and turn on the lights" this winter.

CEO Dame Clare Moriarty told BBC Radio 4's "Today" program that the service "sees those who are extremely worried about the costs they face".

The ceiling of standard variable notes rose by an average of 139 pounds in October to reflect the surge in wholesale prices, and is expected to rise by hundreds of pounds again when the energy regulator Ofgem reviews it in April.

Dame Clare added: "This is happening at the same time as other price increases. For many of our customers, the £20 increase in Universal Credit has another huge impact on their financial situation. So we see people really, really People are very worried about whether they can eat and turn on the lights."

Her stern warning was issued the day after the collapse of Bulb, the seventh largest energy supplier in the UK, which had 1.7 million customers. When they moved to another supplier, many of them are now facing a significant increase in tariffs.

A survey released today by comparison site comparethemarket.com found that if energy costs rise sharply, more than one-third of families with children will reduce other expenditures, such as food and luxury goods.

Since the beginning of September, as natural gas prices have soared, Bulb is the latest and largest of more than 20 energy suppliers to close down.

It said it would support the efforts of the regulator Ofgem to appoint a special administrator-a process designed to protect customers when large energy suppliers can no longer conduct transactions. Bulb became the first energy supplier to rely on the special management system of the regulatory agency Ofgem.

In the past, Ofgem handled failed energy suppliers through its last supplier process, which simply moved thousands of customers from the failed company to another supplier.

Emma Pinchbeck, the head of the UK Department of Energy, a trade agency, said: "We cannot exclude well-run and financially responsible companies from exiting the market-except for those companies that have already left."