// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
Heating oil users face fuel or food winter choice'
Liz Humphris said although she can afford it, she does not like to look at the price heating oil has reached
With the summer gone and the central heating going on, people who use heating oil in their homes are facing the prospect of filling their tanks, at much higher prices than they have been used to.
Many will pay nearly double what they had to last year because of a rise in prices since the start of the Iran war.
It has led people like Liz Humphris, from Bishop's Castle in Shropshire, to limit how much they buy at once to help ends meet. "Now, I just order 500 litres at a time because it costs too much," she said.
Ministers said on Tuesday they would tighten up rules, promote competition and give customers clearer compensation routes if things go wrong.
Minimum order levels, set for some customers, will be reviewed.
As prices remain volatile, but significantly higher than in recent winters, campaigners have called for heating oil customers to benefit from a similar cap to that on mains gas and electricity tariffs in England, Scotland and Wales.
There is no promise this will happen, but ministers said they would work to "develop a regulatory regime for the heating oil market, protecting consumers and promoting competition."
Humphris said she had noticed the jump in prices: "It is costing over £500 for 500 litres, so it has gone up hugely."
Humphris added that she felt for people she knew who had to use food banks, like the one she volunteers for.