Out of sight, out of mind

Britain's green and pleasant villages - where many more homes rely on oil for their heating - are also suffering the fastest rises in food and fuel prices.

Research by price comparison site moneysupermarket.com shows rural Britons being squeezed by their remoteness from supermarkets, longer commutes to work, and lack of access to gas.

Patterdale in the Lake District is a good example of rural Britain's struggle. It is 16 miles from its nearest major supermarket, petrol and diesel are around 7p per litre higher than the national average, the average annual salary is £19,200, and council tax is over £1,460 for a Band D property.

Contrast this with Edinburgh where supermarkets and petrol stations abound, public transport is plentiful, the average salary is £8,000 higher, council tax is £300 less and homes are gas heated.

Barely any of Patterdale's homes have mains gas so heating oil or bottled gas provide the heat but at around double the cost that it was last year.

Clare Francis, of moneysupermarket.com, said: "A stark rural reality is starting to hit home now.

"Over five million households without gas are paying double what they were last year to heat their homes.

"And this urban-rural divide, sadly, also extends to two of the other essentials of life - food and petrol or diesel.

"Having to travel up to 20 miles to the nearest supermarket will typically add £6 in fuel costs, so villagers are increasingly relying on the corner store. Of course, these shops can't buy in bulk like the major supermarkets so they have to charge more and they can't offer the same range of foods either.

"Rural Britain is paying more than urban Britain for its food, petrol and diesel, is travelling further and earning less. It's becoming a view at a cost.

This is a crisis that the Government has yet to recognise.

Clare Francis added: "Reducing interest rates has done nothing to help homeowners - in fact mortgage rates have been going up despite the cuts. We are looking at rural ruin as prices soar.

"The most effective measure open to the Government would be to cut petrol and diesel tax. The Government gets 70p per litre in fuel tax and VAT. Surely now the time has come for it to cut fuel tax by 10p per litre.

"This would help everyone in the UK by reducing the price of fuel and food - and every other product that relies on transport. The cut couldn't come soon enough for rural Britain, which has to rely even more on cars."