Residents across the South West have been holding off buying heating oil for winter, hoping prices might magically come down. Spoiler: they haven't. The culprit is the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has sent heating fuel costs soaring by up to 82% since the start of the conflict, according to Polly Billington, Minister for Energy Consumers.

Billington told the BBC that "we need to make sure the market is working as fairly as possible," and noted it was "striking" how rural communities with "so many people off grid" were "some of the most exposed" to the price increases. Striking, yes. Surprising, less so.

The government has announced new measures aimed at regulating the market and reviewing the minimum amounts some people are required to buy. Ministers promised to tighten up rules, promote competition, and give customers clearer compensation routes when things go wrong. Earlier in October, they also pledged better regulation of the sector overall. Whether any of this translates into lower bills remains, as they say, to be seen.

Nicola Sharpe from Dunsford, Devon, offered a concrete before-and-after. This time last year she paid about £340 for 500 litres. Currently, the same amount runs just over £600. "I'm looking at ways to spread the cost when I have to bite the bullet and get it," she said. As for the government's regulatory ambitions, Sharpe was blunt: "I can't see how regulating it is going to bring costs down."

Pauline Trubody, 76, from Porkellis, Cornwall, has already spent more on two deliveries of 500 litres this year than in previous years. "I probably won't put it [the heating] on as much as I would have," she said. "There is going to be a lot of people who can't afford it and folk who are going to go cold."

Lee Fossey from St Agnes, Cornwall, has been paying £30 a month into a savings scheme to spread the cost of heating oil throughout the year. "I have done everything I reasonably can to budget and prepare for winter, yet despite this, the dramatic increase in prices means I can no longer afford to fill my tank," she said. She now faces the prospect of no heating this winter, or spending the money on an alternative heating source instead.

In March, the government announced a support package worth £53m for low-income families who use heating oil. Which is a real number, and a real package, and presumably a real comfort to anyone who can currently afford roughly £600 for 500 litres of fuel.

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