EVERY home will feel the effects of gas shortages this winter, said Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff as he published his first major Parliamentary report as chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee.

The Tory MP said the Government shared much of the blame for the crisis, which would drive up energy prices and could lead to power cuts.

Vulnerable people like the elderly and disabled would also be pushed into "fuel poverty" as a result, claimed the study.

The Government has come under pressure already over concerns that the country is ill-prepared to deal with gas shortages as it faces the coldest winter in years.

Mr Luff, who has chaired the committee since July, turned up the heat on ministers yesterday as he warned that the same problems might be repeated for the next two years.

He said: "The gas supply problem this winter will affect - whether through high prices of gas and electricity or through actual supply interruptions - all domestic, industrial and commercial users.

"The problem is caused not only by matters outside the control of Government, but also by a legacy of slow development of infrastructure and the lack of a true European market for gas.

"These are matters that do lie, at least partially, under the control of the UK Government. It is therefore right to expect Government to take steps to mitigate the impact of problems this winter - and probably for the next two winters."

The committee said fuel poverty had fallen from 5.25 million households in 1997 to 2.251 million in 2004, in which more than 10 per cent of income is spent on energy.

But for every 10 per cent increase in fuel prices, another 400,000 to 500,000 English households would join their number, the committee said.