Up to 21,000 adults living in Midlothian cannot afford to turn on the heat in their homes to keep warm or eat a balanced meal, according to a new report.
It is estimated as many as 34,000 people are worried about energy bills and it said in one month alone 8,000 adults went hungry because they did not have enough money to buy food.
The figures, which will be presented to a meeting of Midlothian Council next week, come from an independent study ordered by the local authority's cost of living task force - set up last summer.
