DEVON Freemasons have boosted an appeal to help the vulnerable and elderly afflicted by fuel poverty and struggling to stay warm by £2,000.

Donations made to Surviving Winter, co-ordinated by Devon Community Foundation, have now topped £13,000.

The Surviving Winter campaign asks people who can afford to forgo their Winter Fuel Allowance to donate it to help the hundreds of vulnerable and older people affected by fuel poverty in Devon.

Across the county, 17.6 per cent of all households are living in fuel poverty and 600 older and vulnerable people are at risk of dying as a result of fuel poverty this winter.