The leader of Northumberland County Council has hit out at calls for more support for households using heating oil.
Many homes in Northumberland, particularly in rural and coastal areas, are not served by gas mains and are kept warm by heating oil.
The price of the fuel is not regulated in the same way as gas and electricity and as such, has increased significantly in the past 12 months. According to figures from price tracker boilerjuice.com, the average cost of 100 litres of heating oil in the UK stood at £94.53 as of October 2 - up from £61.39 last year.
