British consumers could face even higher energy bills as early as next year, forking out a predicted £5,000 per year.

In what is believed to be the grimmest estimate so far, independent energy consultancy Auxilione suggests that record gas prices recorded in the last few days could potentially push the level of the price cap higher.

In their report, analysts said: “An extremely bullish market yesterday, pushing prices to new highs. We now see the UK winter gas contract valued at 500p per therm.

“Speaking of five, the impact of yesterday’s extreme move sadly has pushed our future forecasts for the price cap to new highs and we now see one future cap now start with a five, £5,000 – a value we have forecast behind the scenes for many weeks now.”

It is worth noting that the last estimate of January’s price cap for a typical household was £4,266.

Auxilione added: “We still value the upcoming cap in October at just over £3,600, which finalises late next week, but the future caps will be considerably higher in January and April.”