The Government has been hauled before the High Court to defend its failure to lift vulnerable people out of fuel poverty.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Help the Aged argued Government departments were not doing enough to meet their stated targets of helping millions of vulnerable citizens who cannot heat their homes adequately.

Yesterday's case came on the same day research revealed eight out of 10 older people in the West did not think enough was being done to help people with the rising cost of fuel bills.

Michael Fordham QC, appearing for the campaigners, asked a judge to order the Government to do more. He told Mr Justice McCombe, sitting in London, fuel poverty was "a blight upon society".

Defending lawyers said the Government was doing its best in the face of dramatic energy price rises, and there had been no breach of duty.

Five million households are expected to suffer fuel poverty this winter.Mr Fordham said it made a significant contribution to the 20,000 to 40,000 additional deaths in the winter months in the UK and also gave rise to environmental concerns.

A fuel poverty strategy was introduced under the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000, with the stated aim of doing everything "reasonably practicable" to end fuel poverty among vulnerable households by 2010 and in all households in England by 2016.

But the Government was taking insufficient measures to meet its commitment and the courts should intervene, argued Mr Fordham.

He said the position was "stark" and on current forecasts, fuel poverty targets would not be met.

Almost seven years into the strategy there were expected to be about 1.3 million vulnerable households still in fuel poverty in 2010.

Mr Fordham argued there had been "a fundamental error of approach", and the Government had downgraded fuel poverty to "minor status" within its Public Service Agreement and Target Framework.

He said the words "reasonably practical" were being used to dilute the imperative nature of the Government's duty to hit its targets.

He said it had been suggested resources were limited by the budgets of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Lawyers representing Defra and BERR are defending the Government and insisted tackling fuel poverty remained a top Government priority, with £20billion spent on it across the UK since 2000.

In written submissions read out before the judge, they said: "In recent years, dramatic increases in energy prices, a phenomenon which is outside the Government's direct control, have caused a significant rise in numbers of households in fuel poverty, notwithstanding the measures taken to implement the strategy."

As the application for judicial review began yesterday, pensioner Mary Phillips, 72, of East Dulwich, sat on a sofa in the chilly morning air in an outdoor "living room" outside the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand, as her ineffectual "heater" leaked into the street, symbolising what happens in poorly insulated homes.

FoE executive director Andy Atkins said: "The Government has a legal commitment to help lift people out of fuel poverty, but society's most vulnerable are suffering and dying because their homes are leaking heat.

"The only long-term solution to fuel poverty is a massive energy efficiency programme. This will heat homes, cut bills and help meet our targets for tackling climate change."

Mervyn Kohler, special adviser for Help the Aged, said: "Though fuel poverty is high on the media and political agendas, Government actions to reduce it fall far short of the crisis it is creating for millions of pensioners and low-income families.

"It is vital that the Government comes up with an effective strategy for tackling fuel poverty."

The hearing is expected to last two days.