On a cold Wednesday evening, the rain is pelting at the windows of the Slamannan Community Centre, where around 50 people have braved the weather to attend a meeting about soaring energy bills.

They are residents of this and other rural villages near Falkirk, in Scotland, where households have seen their bills jump to more than £100 a week — about £5,000 a year — in a matter of months.

Some families have been forced to use food banks so they can afford to heat their homes.

The problems stem from a decision by Falkirk Council to install new, eco-friendly boilers in around 900 council properties over the past ten years, in a project costing £6 million.

Claire Mackie is one of hundreds of residents in Falkirk, Scotland, who have seen their bills leap up after the council installed new eco boilers in social housing

The homes were previously heated by coal fires and storage heaters. Instead, the Thermaflow boilers use electricity to heat water and warm homes — which means residents don't need gas.

Once households had one of the new boilers installed, they were offered access to Scottish Power's Domestic & Economy 2000 tariff, which was available only to those who had a certain type of boiler and who lived in a specific region of Scotland.

On this deal, they were charged two different rates. They paid 7p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for their heating, and 12p/kWh for powering appliances and lighting.

But the supplier has since hiked the prices, to 16p/kWh and 18p/ kWh respectively — rates described by one expert as 'absolutely outrageous'.

Struggling: Lisa McGregor has had to rely on the food bank to feed her five children

Wendy and Brian Womble are another couple whose lives have been blighted by the eco boiler crisis in Falkirk

On top of this, residents are now finding that they are barred from switching to another deal because the way their meters were set up means they are not compatible with most other tariffs on the market.

So, to switch to a new deal, they would have to pay as much as £250 for an electrician to change their meter.

Owen Sinclair, 42, has been forced to pay more than £100 a week after bills soared as a result of suppliers hiking up prices

Some customers say their requests to switch are being blocked without explanation.

Many are now stuck in deadlock, being passed back and forth between Scottish Power, Thermaflow and the council.

The meeting at the community centre is being led by friends Claire Mackie, 39, and Fiona Gordon, 36, who both live in Slamannan, a village halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Fiona, who runs her own dog-walking business, bought her home with her husband in 2017. They had previously lived in the property as council tenants since 2008, and the Thermaflow boiler was installed in 2011.

When the mother of two complained on Facebook about her bills jumping to £110 a week, she discovered neighbours were reporting similar rises.

Claire, a marketing manager, had also seen her bills soar from £35 to £80 a week in October. So the pair decided to join forces to help the households affected and even set up a food bank for them.

Claire Mackie (left) and Fiona Gordon are pictured at a meeting on sky-high eco boiler bills

Mina Black, 60, and her husband Andrew are pictured with their extortionate eco boiler

At the meeting, Claire updates the group on the council's pledge to spend £4 million replacing the heating systems where necessary.

The group also discusses creating a template complaint letter to send to Scottish Power, and they plan to raise money for banners so they can hold a protest — they already have more than 1,500 signatures calling for the energy giant to take action.

It is not long before hands shoot into the air and residents begin detailing their own struggles with punitive bills and uncaring customer service staff.

The soaring bills mean nursery nurse Lisa McGregor, 38, now spends as much on energy as she does on rent

One middle-aged man at the back of the room asks if he can speak plainly, before describing the Big Six supplier as 'b*****ds'.

The soaring bills mean nursery nurse Lisa McGregor, 38, now spends as much on energy as she does on rent.

The single mother of five, from the village of California, is paying £400 a month to heat her home.

The average Big Six customer pays £98, according to energy regulator Ofgem, which has called for a ban on gas boilers. It wants them ripped out from homes or upgraded by 2050 as part of government plans to reduce greenhouse gases.

Pictured: Slamannan High Street in Falkirk, Scotland

A public meeting led by friends Claire Mackie and Fiona Gordon in Slamannan is pictured packed with concerned residents

Lisa, who works part-time, has tried to save money by turning on the heating for only three hours a day and having her young children share baths.

But, despite the cutbacks, her bill has jumped from £70 to £100 a week since October.

She says: 'I'm working in a professional role, but this heating system has crippled me financially and I've had to go to a food bank to feed my family three times.'

Wendy, 48, and Brian Womble, 67, who live in Whitecross, say they are unable to have a bath and run the heating at the same time.

Their Thermaflow boiler was installed before they moved into their property in 2013. But, in October, their bills rocketed from £70 to £100 a week.

Retired engineer Brian says: 'We assumed it was only us having these problems until we saw other residents complaining online.'

In a petition to the House of Commons last week, SNP MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk Martyn Day asked the Government to liaise with Scottish Power and resolve the issue.

Mark Todd, of Energyhelpline, says that paying up to 18p/kWh is 'absolutely outrageous' and that a bill of this type would usually cost less than £800 a year in Falkirk.

Fiona Gordon says: 'Scottish Power just doesn't seem to understand the magnitude of the situation. The council has said it has put money aside to help families, but it could take over a year before this happens.'

A Scottish Power spokesman says: 'These customers are not prevented from switching, all suppliers have an obligation to provide a tariff to support these meter types.

To address the root cause of the problem, that many customers are using high levels of energy, we're working with Falkirk Council and making a £1 million fund available for energy efficiency and insulation measures.'

He adds that the firm has a new, cheaper tariff and an emergency credit fund for those affected.

A council spokesman confirmed an independent contractor was visiting homes to review boiler performance, but had not yet identified any significant issues.

George Curtis, of Thermaflow, insists the boilers are not to blame and puts the soaring bills down to energy providers hiking prices and residents using boilers incorrectly.