A £100 payment to rural householders reliant on fuel oil heating will 'not touch the sides' according to some countryside MPS, including some from the ruling party.

It was noted that while oil users would receive the £100 top-up, they would not benefit from a two year price cap like those on to electric and gas.

SNP Energy spokesperson Alan Brown MP said: "Rural Scottish households have been hung out to dry. The cost of heating rural homes is much higher than other parts of the country – with the price of heating oil soaring by over 230% in two years. It’s incumbent upon the Chancellor to recognise the financial fears of rural households and implement meaningful assistance to support them through what’s set to be a difficult winter.”

Conservative MP for Clwyd West, David Jones, said: "I and my colleagues will be watching carefully to assess whether the support is truly comparable and will be making such representations as we consider necessary.” In the Commons, Tory MP Fay Jones, who represents Brecon and Radnorshire, was one of several MPs to raise the issue, saying the £100 payment would 'not touch the sides'.

Figures from the House of Commons Library estimate there are around 129,000 off-grid homes in Scotland reliant on home heating oil. In England the number of homes is thought to be around one million and in Northern Ireland, two-thirds of households use heating oil. According to the Boiler Juice website which monitors prices in Scotland, the cost of heating oil has risen from 65ppl in January to 105ppl today.

Stephen Young, head of policy at Scottish Land and Estates said: “While it is helpful to have support for households with the energy crisis that we face, it does appear that again rural areas are an afterthought. The majority of rural houses have no access to mains gas and have no option but to use LPG or oil heating, both of which are both intrinsically more expensive to use due to logistics.

"Added to this the lack of an availability of public transport and greater distances to access services mean that rural areas face a disproportionate impact of energy costs. Therefore it is vital that rural communities receive help to meet the very real challenges they face.”

Read more: Scottish farm payments brought forward by a month as cost crisis bites

Those struggling and connected to agriculture are being encouraged to contact RSABI who are promoting its Help for Heating grant throughout the autumn and winter months. This grant is open to people in Scottish agriculture who are struggling financially, with payments starting at £300 to help with the cost of heating their homes.

RSABI can also offer a range of other support, including a free counselling service for people feeling overwhelmed, and can be contacted 24 hours a day by calling their freephone helpline number 0808 1234 555 or using the webchat service on its website and respond to email enquiries during office hours via helpline@rsabi.org.uk.

“We know that a great many of the most vulnerable people in the Scottish agricultural community, including those who are older or living alone in more isolated locations, use a range of ways to heat their homes,” said Chief Executive of RSABI, Carol McLaren.

“Those living in cottages and older properties very often use oil for their heating and, given the concern about energy costs this year, we are particularly keen to raise awareness of our Help for Heating grant to help with kerosene and other ways of heating.

“These start at £300 but can be significantly more, depending on different circumstances and people who contact us may find they are eligible for other forms of support when they contact the team,” said Ms McLaren.

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