RESIDENTS across Hyndburn have been given tips and advice on how to save money on their household bills.

Hyndburn Homes' annual tenants' conference was held at Accrington and Rossendale College, where residents were offered money-saving tips, energy-saving advice, and information on how to deal with debt.

Hyndburn Homes, which provides more than 3,200 properties across the borough, teamed up with Lancashire Affordable Warmth, United Utilities, CAB, Energy Switch NW and Homewise, to host the conference amid reports that some people have been cutting back on food in order to heat their homes.

Residents Pat Gandy, 73, and her husband Burt, 72, who live on Ashworth Street, Baxenden, and have been Hyndburn Homes tenants for 17 years, were among those to attend the event.

Pat said: ‘We haven’t changed our energy supplier for years, but we’re definitely going to look into it now. What we may save we could use on a weekend away.

‘If its lit up, it’s using electricity, it’s only a little thing, but it all adds up.’ Ann McIvor, resident involvement officer for Hyndburn Homes, said: ‘We understand this time of year can be particularly challenging for people, with colder weather, the price of gas and electricity, and the cost of things like Christmas. We want to do all we can to support our residents to make their money go further and access help that is available.

‘We chose to focus on this at the conference, especially because we’d heard reports that some residents are cutting back on food to stay warm.’