This will come as yet another blow for hard-pressed pensioners, who are already struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills. Their plight will worsen from October 1, when the energy price cap jumps more than 80 percent.

The triple lock increases the State Pension each year either by inflation, earnings or 2.5 percent, whichever is higher.

For the 2023/24 tax year, the inflation element is almost certain to apply, as the cost of living rages out of control.

Under the mechanism, each April’s increase is actually based on consumer price growth figure from the previous September.

So the level of inflation in September this year will determine what pensioners get in April 2023. While that will be high, inflation could be much, much higher by the time the increase actually comes into force.

Official inflation currently stands at 10.1 percent for the year to July, and it could easily hit 11 or 12 percent by September, said Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life.

That looks set to hand pensioners their biggest pay rise ever, lifting the new State Pension from today’s maximum of £9,627.80 to as high as £10,782.

Not everybody will get that much, because they have not made the full amount of National Insurance contributions during their working lifetime.

Those on the basic State Pension will get a smaller increase, because that only pays £7,376.20 a year.

For them, a 12 percent pay rise would only be worth £885, lifting the full basic State Pension to just £8,261 a year (although some get additional State Pension on top).

Disastrously for pensioners, the big inflationary leap is likely to come in October, when the energy price cap leaps from £1,971 to £3,549 for the average household.

Bills will also be driven higher because we will all be using more energy as the days get colder and nights draw in.

That increase will not be reflected in next April’s State Pension increase, potentially causing hardship for millions.

READ MORE: Basic state pension shock - pays £324 LESS than average energy bill

The Bank of England reckons that inflation will hit 13.3 per cent in October (it has not made a prediction for September).

Yet by the time the State Pension increase comes into force, prices could be rising at a dramatically faster rate.

Citibank has predicted inflation will hit 18 percent early next year, while Goldman Sachs anticipates an incredible 22 percent.

This could happen, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin's decision to stop gas exports to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline yesterday deepens the energy squeeze.

A cold winter would make a bad situation even worse.

The State Pension triple lock mechanism has not changed since it was introduced in 2010, so this year’s September quirk is bad luck.

But it will still place yet more pressure on pensioners.

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Energy consultancy Auxilione now reckons the energy price cap could hit £7,700 from April, which would be £5,729 a year more can the average household is paying today.

It will pretty much wipe out the basic State Pension.

Pensioners, the disabled, and those on low incomes have been struggling for years but the scale of the problem demands urgent action.

June’s support package included a raft of one-off payments worth a maximum of £1,650 for the poorest pensioner households, but it will be wiped out as energy bills soar.

Tory Party leadership front runner Liz Truss began her campaign by saying that she did not believe handouts were the best way to help households through the cost-of-living squeeze, and that she favoured cutting taxes instead.

That will do nothing to help the most vulnerable, who face a stark choice between starving or freezing. She has since changed her tune and pledged to deliver immediate support to ensure people are not facing unaffordable fuel bills.

As these shock figures show, urgent action is required.