West Country blighted by fuel poverty

15 June 2012

Posted by Neil Brunskill

A growing number of households are finding it hard to cope with the rising cost of living and many are being forced into fuel poverty.

One part of the UK that has been badly affected is the West Country, with one in five households in the area said to be spending more than ten per cent of their annual income on energy outgoings, Western Morning News reports.

The Torridge and West Devon parliamentary constituency has the most cases of fuel poverty in the region, as 21.3 per cent of residents are under extreme financial pressure.

According to recent figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, up to four million households could be suffering from fuel poverty by the end of the year.

To rectify the situation, the Energy Bill Revolution campaign - a group of leading charities - has urged the authorities to pump the taxes accrued through power bills into new insulation schemes.

Heating oil users have a distinct advantage over other energy users because they can make significant savings by purchasing their fuel in bulk when prices are low.

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