Home of family with newborn 'a biohazard' after oil theft as prices spiral

A couple with a days-old baby have said they will be out of their home for months after heating oil thieves struck and turned the property into a "massive biohazard".

Gareth Kelly and Aimee Leigh Brolly said they had to move out after the robbery caused oil to spill over their garden, causing choking fumes.

Almost two-thirds of homes (62.5%) in Northern Ireland use oil for heating, the highest proportion among UK nations. Industry data suggests prices have more than doubled since the US attack on Iran.

The heating oil sector is unregulated so customers have been immediately exposed to price rises. The UK's competition watchdog has said it is investigating reports of possible price gouging.

Gareth and his partner were in bed at their Limavady home at about 08:00 GMT on Monday when he woke to the smell of petrol fumes so strong it "choked you in the house".

He went outside to check what had happened and realised that "the oil line had been severed and the oil was leaking everywhere".

Aimee Leigh said they "just had to leave immediately, it wasn't safe" while her partner described the situation as "an absolute travesty".

"The house is now a massive biohazard, we can't live there. It's going to be months before we can live there," Gareth said.

Their son was only 10 days old at the time and the couple have ongoing medical conditions with Aimee Leigh only out of hospital the night before and Gareth having had a kidney transplant.

"All it would have taken would have been someone walking past with a cigarette butt or something, the whole house could have been in flames with the amount of oil that was out there," Gareth added.

He said that, with the current price of oil, the theft was not a surprise but he was still disgusted by it.

Aimee Leigh added: "They've impacted our lives massively, they think they've just stolen a bit of oil, they've changed everything, we have no home.

"Our son is 14 days old, he has nowhere to stay properly, we don't know where we are going to be sleeping tonight.

"I know times are tough and prices are high but you don't have to impact someone's life like this here just for a bit of oil."

Police are appealing for information about the theft.

They said officers observed that the oil line had been cut in order to siphon the fuel out in the early hours of Monday.

Samantha Gallagher, from the Rural Community Network, said some families in areas that are particularly reliant on oil have run out of it and are being forced to wait until the price comes down as they "simply cannot afford it".

"One of our residents informed us that there was a spike in the Causeway Coast and Glens area from £285 to £509," she told BBC News NI.

In contrast households with gas heating have, for now, been protected from price rises because of the way that market operates and is regulated.

Earlier, Northern Ireland's MPs, as well as other MPs from some rural areas of Britain where home heating oil is more commonly used, were at a meeting with the Treasury.

It comes after the chancellor said some heating oil companies are using the crisis in the Middle East "as an opportunity to rip off consumers".

The MPs met Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Energy Minister Michael Shanks, who confirmed they had written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) asking the watchdog to be "vigilant across heating oil prices".

The Treasury said both were clear that the government would not hesitate to act if the CMA finds evidence of price manipulation.

The CMA said it would be be engaging with "suppliers and intermediaries" to see whether there are "consumer protection law concerns".

It said it would look specifically at whether existing oil orders were being cancelled, with customers then offered new quotes at higher prices.

Sarah Cardell, the CMA's chief executive, said it was "moving quickly to get to the bottom of these concerns".

In response, the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA), which represents heating oil suppliers, said its members were dealing with an "exceptionally difficult time".

"We have spoken to many distributors who, despite the very large price swings and demand, are honouring orders as quickly as they can. We know that the CMA is monitoring this, and we support this approach," it said.

Stormont's Finance Minister, John O'Dowd, has previously called on the chancellor to support consumers in Northern Ireland.

O'Dowd said the Stormont Executive did not have the financial "firepower" for a meaningful support package.