The new government should prioritise the cost of living crisis, said Okehampton residents as Liz Truss won the Tory leadership election to become the new prime minister.

As the news of Ms Truss’s success broke, Okehampton residents expressed hopes that the new PM and her government would work towards tackling the cost of living crisis as prices continue to rise and energy price caps set to increase to over £3,000 next month.

Okehampton cafe owner, Rebecca Green, said: ‘The new government needs to understand the needs of the rural community in terms of the cost of living crisis and how we are disproportionally affected.

‘If you rely on your car because the bus service is rubbish but can’t afford fuel then you’ve got families struggling straight away. They should also help us improve the energy efficiency of rural homes. In built up areas there are a lot of terraced houses but around here there are mostly detached houses which don’t hold heat as well.’

Mrs Green, who runs 3 East Street cafe, said her business has already been affected by the rising energy costs and explained this had forced her to reduce the number of opening days in order to deal with the ever-increasing costs of running a business

She said: ‘It’s unsustainable. The minimum wage has increased which is good since prices are rising but I’ve got to deal with that when my bills have quadrupled and the food costs doubled.’

Mrs Green also runs Okehampton’s community kitchen, which provides residents struggling to feed their families with a meal, and said that she had seen a definite increase in the number of people needing the service. She added that they were ‘responding’ but were ‘having so many referrals.’

London Inn owner Simon Chudley echoed Mrs Green’s wishes for the new government to address ever-rising energy bills.

He said: ‘People can’t afford these bills. Ms Truss is going to have to lower prices not just freeze them. I would like to see less foodbanks. It would be nice to see people not needing to use them.’

Alongside members of the public, who have admitted to feeling worried about the coming winter, Okehampton town councillors have also voiced hope that Ms Truss will start her premiership tackling the cost of living crisis.

Councillor Tony Leech said: ‘We have to treat the issues we have at hand, anythingabout the cost of living, fuel and food. Whoever is at the top should see that as a priority’ while Councillor Jan Goffey expressed a wish that Ms Truss would impose a windfall tax on the energy companies which, she said, are making ‘huge profits’ from the crisis.

Okehampton’s MP, Mel Stride, has also advocated for support for those most affected by rising prices and has suggested implementing help through the benefits system and offering additional support to pensioners.

He said: ‘Critical will be targeted support for those who will be most affected by rising fuel bills. This could be done through the benefits system and also through providing assistance to pensioners.

‘Part of the challenge will be that it will not just be the most economically disadvantaged who he will be affected but those right up the income scale. Therefore the approach here will need to be quite wide in scope providing direct financial assistance to many thousands of local people.’

In her acceptance speech Ms Truss pledged to ‘deliver on the energy crisis’ and promised to freeze the energy price cap throughout her leadership campaign. She is expected to reveal the details of her plan to help Britons pay their bills today. The current price cap is set at £1,971 but will rise to £3,549 from next month.

During her campaign, Ms Truss refused to consider ‘handouts’ to help struggling families and instead promised she would reverse the rise in National Insurance, implemented under Boris Johnson, cut income tax, reduce VAT and stop a rise in corporation tax if she was elected.