With the rate of inflation having jumped to 6% in December, we asked the public if they’ve noticed prices increasing.

Alison Kinrade, from Laxey, had noticed costs on the rise during her weekly shops.

She said: ’You can stick to the basics and stick to the minor brands but everything’s going up. You’ll notice £5 extra in your shop and then it’s £10 extra and you’ve got to get used to spending that, you didn’t really notice it and then all of a sudden you’re actually knocking on the next £10 up. Even though you’re sticking to your list, this is what’s happening.’

The 43-year-old added: ’It’s not unbearable but it’s noticeable.

’I think you’ve got to be savvy these days anyway, you have to be savvy with your holidays and travel, the Steam Packet costs a fortune, food costs a fortune - you cannot throw money away these days, you just can’t.’

Ms Kinrade explained that she has changed her habits to lessen the impact of the rise, saying: ’I think twice before I spend it. I tend to go to charity shops for clothes quite a lot and that’s what you have to do sometimes. You also can’t go on holiday three or four times a year.’

Paul and Lisa Taylor, of Ramsey, agreed and said they had noticed a rise in food, but had also seen transport going up.

Mr Taylor, 53, said: ’The shipment costs have gone up too, trying to get stuff over to the island. I think it’s because the fuel prices have gone up and there’s a knock on effect on transport. I order stuff for work and we’ve noticed a massive increase in shipping costs.

’Everything’s creeping up apart from the wages. I don’t think people know what’s coming.’

Mrs Taylor, 51, added: ’I think we’ve all taken our eyes off the ball on everything other than Covid. I think the government’s been focusing on it so much that these other things are just slipping under and all of a sudden it’s come about while we’ve all been thinking about other things. This has all crept in through the back door.

’There’s not been enough money put into stuff and Covid has highlighted that big time because the NHS has really felt the pinch.’

Mr Taylor said: ’They set the worldwide energy prices around April again so they reckon it’s gonna go up another 50% and the gas companies can’t bear that themselves so they’re going to have to pass it onto the consumer. When the prices go up the government won’t be able to support people enough because they’ve spent nearly £6m on lateral flow testing, in amongst the furlough schemes, so it’s going to have a massive effect at the end of the year.’

Kathleen Desmond, from Maughold, said: ’Definitely things are going up, there’s no doubt about it.

’I know gas and oil are going up but when it’s cold I’ll just put another jumper on and we’ll light the fire. I think it’s maybe just going back to the way things were when I was a child. My dad would always say "just put another jumper on" and that was it.’

The 65-year-old added: ’People are going to get a bit of a shock because [the inflation rate] can jump.’

Alan Gough, of Onchan, has noticed his fuel bills increasing, saying: ’I’m not feeling a pinch in any way but this is the period that we start paying the higher bills because it came about in between. Having received my gas bill for this quarter, it was about double, based on what I paid last year.’

The 67-year-old said: ’I also have a diesel van and the diesel prices are getting to be a bit much.’