“Desperation” is behind a sharp rise in the number of reports of energy theft or meter tampering, according to a fuel poverty charity.

There has been a nearly 50% increase in reports to Crimestoppers but the charity estimates up to 250,000 cases of energy theft go unreported every year.

“It’s not a surprise. It’s a terrible reality though,” said Adam Scorer, from National Energy Action. “It’s quite a hidden issue driven by desperation, driven by shame.”

The government will “support households to cut their bills and reduce fuel poverty”, a spokesperson said.

Energy theft is when people tamper with a meter, or bypass it completely, so it doesn’t properly record how much energy is being used.

It is extremely dangerous as it can lead to gas leaks, and kills or badly injures 280 people every year, according to Stay Energy Safe. It runs an anonymous reporting line operated by Crimestoppers working with Ofgem and energy suppliers.

Mr Scorer, of National Energy Action, said such practices were “much more likely to be going on under the radar”, which was more concerning due to the dangers posed.

Crimestoppers said there was a 48% increase when comparing the number of reports of energy theft it received between April 2021 and January 2022 and between April 2023 and January 2024.

It said it received an average of more than 900 reports a month in the last 10 months.

Energy prices rose sharply when demand for gas increased when Covid restrictions were lifted. Then Russia invaded Ukraine which disrupted supply and pushed up demand, and therefore the price of gas from other countries.

Energy bills are now at their lowest for two years but are still about £400 higher than they were three years ago.

Mr Scorer said as energy prices went “through the roof” and the cost-of-living crisis squeezed household budgets, families were pushed into fuel poverty.

National Energy Action defines fuel poverty as spending 10% of your income to be able to afford a reasonable level of warmth.

Before the energy crisis the charity estimated four million households were in fuel poverty. Now it believes that number is around 5.6 million households.

Mum-of-four Sam Holland, 41, said she currently lives on £140 a week while she is not working due to disabilities.

“If I was to get into any debt with energy it would scare me,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Stealing Power documentary.

“I don’t have the heating on at all hardly at home. I walk around with my dressing gown on if it’s cold,” she said.

She said she goes to the Intact Centre in Preston, part of the Warm Space programme, with her two younger children four times a week.

National Energy Action is concerned about further pressure on households following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s announcement that around 10 million pensioners in England and Wales will stop getting winter fuel payments. The money will no longer go to all pensioners – only those who get pension credit or other means-tested benefits.

“It will leave many pensioners who need support without it. One third of fuel-poor households do not receive benefits. They should not be forgotten,” said Matt Copeland, head of policy at National Energy Action.

Gas engineer Ian Spedding, from Burnley, who has 47 years’ experience, says he sees meter tampering “two to three times a year”.

“But if I’m just one gas engineer out of a thousand in the region then that’s a big problem,” he said.

Ash Bagnall, who works as a gas inspector for Cadent, said he has to act as a diplomat when inspecting homes where people are suspected of stealing energy.

“Safety is always my number one priority,” he said. “We’re cold calling the properties so I’ll explain who I am.

“If we have rumbled them in the act of potential theft of gas, sometimes we have to go in gingerly.

“We might just say ‘we need to read your meter’ because if we greet them at the door and say ‘we think you’re stealing gas’, we’re not going to get into that property.

“If there was a potential tamper that is causing a gas leak we need to be able to get in there and fix it because that’s our main goal – keeping everybody safe.”

A spokesperson said the government will “fix our broken energy system by investing in clean power”.

The government will launch a £150 Warm Home Discount scheme in October and “we expect it to support three million households”, the spokesperson added.

• If you are struggling to pay your energy bills, you need to contact your supplier.
• You can ask for a review of your payments and debt repayments, external, payment breaks or reductions, more time to pay and access to hardship funds.
• If eligible you could be added to a list of households entitled to extra support, the Priority Services Register
• Ofgem also recommends asking your supplier to add you to the Network Operator Register, if you rely on energy for medical reasons.
• Make sure you are claiming relevant benefits and government help. You can check the MoneyHelper benefits guide, external or use the Entitledto, external and Turn2us, external benefits calculators.

Read more: What can I do if I can’t pay my energy bill?

You can listen to ‘Stealing Power’ on BBC Sounds by clicking here.