Bryan Shaw with his oil tank

by Nisha Chopra

A man's idea to start an oil syndicate i1n his village has left scores of residents feeling the heat - and not the spiralling cost of fuel bills.

Bryan Shaw, 65, set up the group six years ago so he and his neighbours could buy fuel in bulk at a lower cost.

The former money broker was fed up with oil companies charging a premium rate for orders of 500 litres of heating oil.

He now has 128 members within a 10 mile radius signed up to the syndicate in Stansted, near Sevenoaks.

Mr Shaw said: "I was penalised because the companies wouldn't want to come out for 500 litres.

"I spoke to some neighbours and said let's set up a syndicate - I said I'd do the ordering and it went on from there."

In the winter Bryan arranges deliveries ever month and every six weeks in the summer.

On average he is able to save members, consuming around 2,000 litres a year, 4p to 7p per litre - which works out at around £130 a year.

He added: "For somebody who's on low income or having to cutback on household bills, that's a big saving.

"A woman who's recently joined my collective bought oil from an independent company before Christmas and paid 62p per litre, which is 7p more than what she could have got as a syndicate member."