A Royston councillor has joined a campaign calling for better insulation, after more than half of homes in North Herts failed to meet energy efficiency standards.

New data analysis has revealed that 56 per cent of houses assessed in North Herts over the past five years failed to meet the basic Energy Performance Rating (EPC) of C.

Poorly insulated homes often face higher bills, with £1 of every £4 spent by UK households on energy wasted due to poor insulation.

In response, the Co-operative Party's #Can'tWaitToInsulate campaign is calling on the Government to speed up their commitment to retrofitting - the process of upgrading homes to make them more energy efficient.

Chris Hinchliff, Labour and Co-operative district councillor for Royston Palace, said: "Britain's homes are notoriously draughty, damp and cold – and with energy prices rising, that can make them incredibly expensive to heat.

"It’s unbelievable that in Royston and other towns and villages in our local area so many families are facing higher bills because their homes fail to meet basic energy efficiency standards."

In last month's Autumn Statement, the Government committed to spending an extra £6 billion on retrofitting from 2025 - most likely after the next election.

As a response, the campaign is organising an open letter to Grant Shapps MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The letter calls on the Government to bring forward the extra funding from 2025 to now, and to match the Labour Party's commitment to spending £6 billion a year for over a decade to retrofit every home which fails to meet the standards.

Cllr Hinchcliff added: "Everyone in Royston deserves a safe, warm home.

"That’s why I’ve joined the #CantWaitToInsulate campaign and co-signed a letter calling on the Government to provide more money now to retrofit homes across North Hertfordshire and the whole country."

An EPC is issued for every property built, sold or rented out in England and Wales. This rates a home on a scale of A to G on how efficient it is. Over 19 million homes in the UK fail to meet the basic C rating, and it is illegal to rent out a property below an E.