Thousands of Britons are missing out on energy bill support payments.

The government’s Energy Bill Support Scheme provides a £400 non-repayable discount to households.

This is applied over six months with a reduction of £66 every month.

Payment company PayPoint told BBC News that it expected to process nearly 800,000 vouchers in October alone, worth a total of £52.8 million.

However, the firm said only £27 million had been redeemed.

National Energy Action Chief Executive Adam Scorer said: “One of the least surprising outcomes from the Energy Bills Support Scheme is that people on older prepayment meters are most likely to miss out.

“They may not know that the scheme exists, be reluctant to open letters from suppliers, miss the email or can’t print the voucher off.

“Having the support in place is, of course, vital. Making sure people can and do access it is just as important. The UK Government must learn this lesson for whatever comes after the Energy Price Guarantee.”