One in nine adults in the UK are eating less food in an attempt to pay their soaring energy bills, according to research

The cost of energy has been escalating across Europe since Russia began limiting gas supplies. skynesher/Getty Images

• Five million people in the UK are going without food to pay household bills, a report says.
• One in five adults in the UK said they were behind on at least one bill payment.
• The cost of energy has been soaring across Europe since Russia began limiting gas supplies.

Five million people in the UK are going without food to pay household bills, a report by a national charity has found.

The Money Advice Trust's report, which was based on an Opinium survey of 2,000 UK adults, estimated that one in nine UK adults had skipped meals in the last three months "just to keep the lights on." 

One in five adults, or 10.9 million, said they were behind on at least one bill payment, according to the report.

Energy bills in the UK have been rising rapidly since the beginning of the year. According to the report, 20% of adults in the UK said their energy bills had risen by $113 (£100) or more a month since April. 

A further 14% of the UK's population said they had already sold personal or household items to cover the bills. Two in five had already cut down on all non-essential spending, per the report.

Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, told Insider: "Many households are already facing impossible choices, such as which meal to skip just to keep the lights on.

"With the impact of this crisis not being felt equally, further targeted support is needed for those on the lowest incomes.  This should include uprating benefits to help incomes keep pace with rising costs – and doing more to protect people in arrears to prevent them being pushed further into hardship."

The cost of energy has been soaring across Europe since Russia began limiting gas supplies.

Other European residents, such as those in Spain, have said they are cutting back on food and limiting heating in order to pay inflated energy bills. 

Britons have also been ripping out vintage-style stoves because they can't afford to run them amid the energy crisis.