Six streets in the Swadlincote area contain the district's highest concentrations of excessively cold homes and are being targeted for urgent improvements.

South Derbyshire District Council has discovered that specific parts of Newhall, Woodville, Church Gresley and Linton are both more deprived and home to the most properties which are drastically energy deficient.

Council officers say there is a probable high level of fuel poverty in these areas, alongside likely and extremely likely "excess" cold hazards.

This means that the properties which cost the most to heat are in neighbourhoods where residents already struggle more to support themselves.

More than 120 homes in South Derbyshire's most deprived areas have levels of excess cold which are harmful for the health of those living in them.

The district council has offered an array of insulation improvements, including in the loft space and walls, to all of the identified homes in these specific areas.

Of the 4,019 properties in South Derbyshire which have been found to have an energy rating between E and G (G being the lowest), around two-thirds of which are owner-occupied and a third are privately rented.

Landlords are not allowed to rent properties which have an energy rating below E, unless they have a valid exemption which requires all possible solutions to have been put in place.

The council says, of these 4,019 properties, 877 owner-occupied homes and 444 privately rented homes are in the district's most deprived areas.

Of these, 125 properties are likely or extremely likely to have a category one hazard for excess cold.

Category one hazards pose a "serious and immediate risk to a person's health and safety".

The highest numbers of homes with an energy rating of E to G and in the most deprived areas are in the following postcodes:

• DE11 0SQ – Parliament Street, Newhall

• DE11 7DX – Station Road, Woodville

• DE11 8DQ – Moira Rd, Woodville

• DE11 9EG – Swadlincote Lane, Church Gresley

• DE11 9NB – Oxford Street, Church Gresley

• DE12 6RF – Coton Park, Linton

The council has received expressions of interest for insulation improvements from 70 of these homeowners.

This work comes as part of the Green Homes Grant scheme, set up by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, with South Derbyshire spending more than £1 million to make improvements to homes.

The average annual energy cost for a property with an energy rating of G is £2,860 compared to the average domestic annual energy cost of £1,710.

In 2019, the district council introduced new fines for "negligent" landlords renting properties with an energy rating below E, with charges totalling a maximum of £5,000 per property.

At the time, it was suspected more than 500 homes in South Derbyshire could fail the test.