‘Will we freeze to death?’: trepidation in England’s snowiest village over loss of winter fuel payment

Raymond Dixon in Copley village: ‘They’re penny-pinching money off pensioners.’ Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Ray Watson smiles, but he’s only half joking in the answer he gives about what losing the winter fuel allowance potentially means for him.

“That’s right, we have a reputation as the snowiest village in England, so we will freeze to death?”