THOUSANDS of pensioners in Huddersfield will see their pensions rise by £5.31 next April.

But the increase – triggered by yesterday’s shock news that inflation has hit a record high of 5.2% – will still leave many struggling.

Pensioners’ organisations insist the planned rises of £5.31 for a single person and £8.49 for a couple will not ease their situation.

An Age UK spokesman said: “Pensioners are living on very restricted incomes. They are also at home for much of the time and need to keep their houses warm, so their fuel bills are higher than for many people.

“We already get many pensioners coming to us needing help and I cannot see that easing”.

Noreen Logan, of the Huddersfield Pensioners’ Association, said: “It’s going to make little difference. Prices of everything, including fuel and food, are soaring and 5% will not have any impact.”

Inflation matched its record high last month, official figures revealed, hitting the Government with a hefty bill for increased state benefits and highlighting the tough conditions faced by households.

The rate of consumer prices index (CPI) inflation in September, which is used to determine next April’s rise in state benefits, rose from 4.5% to 5.2%, which equals the record high reached in September 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Next year’s benefit rates are not formally unveiled until later this year, but this means the basic single state pension will increase by £5.31 to £107.46 a week, while the joint state pension will increase by £8.49 to £171.84.

Employment benefits, such as jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and income support are also calculated using the September CPI rate, meaning JSA will increase by £3.51 to £71.01 a week.

The higher-than-expected surge was driven by a jump in utility bills, as gas and electricity increased 13% and 7.5% respectively following price hikes from major energy providers, including Scottish and Southern Energy, E.ON, British Gas and Scottish Power.

Soaring inflation could also mean a return to a new era of necessity shopping, claimed a Huddersfield expert.

University of Huddersfield lecturer David Harvey, who specialises in consumer behaviour, said: “I can see a situation where people no longer impulse buy when they go to the shops.

“They will do as their parents did a generation ago and stick rigidly to a shopping list of essentials.

“I recall my parents struggling to make ends meet in the 1970s and they were always careful about what they spent at the supermarket.

“People have got into the habit of impulse buying and that will stop.

“We have also seen a boom in the budget supermarkets, especially in towns like Huddersfield, and people will turn to them even more”.