A COMMUNITY fuel club has saved residents of a Carmarthenshire village more than £11,500 in just four months.

Ystradowen Fuel Club was set up by householders in the village in a bid to counteract rising fuel prices – and so far the scheme has been a roaring success.

Residents created the club following a public meeting in November 2012 where there was overwhelming local support for the scheme.

By January the volunteers were ready to start talks about collective purchasing with oil companies and have since been seeing the benefits in their bank balances.

Carmarthenshire East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards – a long-term campaigner on the problems of fuel poverty – visited club members to congratulate them on their success.

During his visit to the YstradOwen Day Centre, which uses £5,000 worth of oil per year, Mr Edwards was told how the scheme had saved the community £11,543 inside four months and that residents in Neath Port Talbot and Powys were now also taking part.

Mr Edwards said: “Like so many parts of Carmarthenshire, residents of Ystradowen and the wider Amman Valley have no choice when it comes to heating their homes.

“There is no mains gas connection which leaves households at the mercy of the rising cost of oil.

“This fuel club, like a number of others in my constituency, is a great example of community spirit; individuals coming together and using their collective purchasing power to get a better deal to meet their energy needs.

“It’s encouraging to see residents saving so much on their bills. I would like to commend the hard work of the volunteers in setting up these schemes and playing such an important role in their communities.

“My maiden speech to the House of Commons was on the issue of fuel poverty.

During that speech I highlighted community bulk-buying schemes as a possible solution. I’m delighted to see a number of successful projects now up and running in Carmarthenshire.”