Nottinghamshire County Council will offer extra support to help more than 14,000 local pensioners who currently receive Pension Credit with rising bills.

Thanks to the Government's Household Support Fund (HSF) Nottinghamshire County Council and partners will continue to share vital money worth £5.6 million to those in immediate need of help, because of the rising costs of food and energy.

Around one-third of this money has been set aside for pensioners, which is why the county council is now writing to all those who claim Pension Credit, whether guaranteed credit or savings credit, to invite them to apply for this extra support by Tuesday 6 September (unless a later date is specified in the letter).

This builds on the support that the HSF has provided in food vouchers to those children entitled to free school meals during school holidays last November, in March and over the current summer holidays.

Frontline staff across the county continue to identify households most in need, where the occupants are not of pensionable age and have no children, to ensure they receive support too.

Eligible pensioners living in Nottinghamshire in receipt of a letter can apply in two ways. The quickest and easiest way is via a simple online form which can be found by clicking here. For those unable to complete the form online, the Council's customer service team on 0300 500 8080 will provide help, however waiting times are expected to be longer than normal over the coming weeks.

A one-off payment can be claimed for £135 for individuals or £185 for two people from the same household receiving pension credit, eligible pensioners can choose how they'd prefer to receive this support from three options.

The quickest way is to request vouchers for the relevant value to use at a wide range of supermarkets. The other ways are via a 'PayPoint' cash voucher which can be redeemed for cash from a number of local retailers or there's the option to have the payment transferred directly into the pensioner's bank account.

Nottinghamshire County Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Communities said: "We're really pleased to offer this latest round of help via the HSF to pensioners who are struggling the most, particularly due to rising costs of food and energy.

"This fund has already been used to help those in low-income households via free school meals and referrals by front line workers.

"We're working hard to distribute these letters as quickly as possible to more than 14,000 eligible pensioners or to their appointee - so please bear with us. Once you or your appointee have received the letter, please apply before the closing date on the letter to ensure you receive this support.

"We are also aware that fraudsters can try to pass themselves off as Nottinghamshire County Council, so if you have any doubts when receiving this or any other letter from us, we'd encourage you to run the letter by family, friends, or someone you trust. You can feel free to ring our customer service team to check the letter is genuine."

For details of other help and support available from Nottinghamshire County Council and partners, click here.