The UK Government has left thousands in Ceredigion without support for heating bills this Christmas, an MP has warned.

The county’s MP Ben Lake has blasted ministers for failing to provide a date for the £200 Alternative Fuel Payment for those living off the gas grid in rural areas.

Mr Lake, who is also Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, said ‘continued delays’ means thousands could be at the mercy of freezing temperatures sweeping Wales.

The one-off £200 payment is for homes that use heating oil, have an LPG boiler, biomass boiler or use a similar alternative fuel to heat their home.

The payment was initially planned as £100, but it was announced in the Autumn Statement it would be increased to £200.

The UK Government has repeatedly refused to commit to a date for this payment when asked by Plaid Cymru.

In answers to written parliamentary questions by Mr Lake, the Minister of State (Minister for Climate) in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Graham Stuart MP, said that “the Government expects this payment will be made in the new year”.

Ben Lake MP said: “The UK Government won’t even give us a date when payments will be made. Vague statements about ‘the new year’ are simply not good enough.

“In setting the rate for the Alternative Fuel Payments the Treasury do not appear to have factored in the unique issue faced by off-grid households.

“Many have to bulk buy months’ worth of fuel in one go, which places them under additional financial pressure.

“The stress of not knowing when the AFP will be delivered has exacerbated this issue over the past few months, with households unsure about whether to wait for support before buying their fuel.

“Given that the scheme for households who are connected to the grid will be extended, albeit at a reduced rate, from April, off-grid homes should be given a guarantee now that they will receive a second round of the Alternative Fuel Payment next winter.”

UK Government analysis estimated that 74 per cent of properties in Ben Lake’s constituency of Ceredigion were not on the gas grid in 2020.

Powys stands at 55 per cent and Gwynedd at nearly half. Overall, it is estimated that 19 per cent of households in Wales are not connected to the gas grid.

Mr Lake said that the £200 payment is not equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee, which the UK Government projects will save the average household £900.

Plaid Cymru has proposed a scheme for households to purchase 1,000 litres of heating oil or equivalent volume of LPG which would save as much for those not connected as those connected to the mains gas grid.

At current prices, a voucher worth 1,000 litres of heating oil (the predominant source of heating for off gas-grid homes in Wales) would cost £969.82.