Cost of living: Derry and Strabane council heat fund oversubscribed

Applications for the scheme went live on the council website on Tuesday after a series of delays

More people have applied for a hardship fund to help with home heating bills than Derry City and Strabane Council can afford.

People can apply for payments of up to £100 from the £258,000 fund, which will be paid directly to energy providers.

Applications for the scheme went live on Tuesday after a series of delays.

The council website began accepting referrals at 09:30 GMT, but shut about eight hours later after thousands applied.

The funding is only available to oil and electricity customers in the council area and not to gas customers.

The council said the programme formed part of the its response to the cost of living crisis and was designed for emergency situations when a householder was not able to pay fuel bills or buy a top-up.

It estimated it could support about 2,405 households in the district.

People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin told BBC Radio Foyle the number of applications exceeded the available funding.

"The fact that so many people applied for this tells us so much about the scale of need in the district," Mr Harkin said.

"We are happy to move this out and get this out for people who needed it, but the fact that this went way past what was available so quickly tells us there are a lot of people who are desperate for help."

Mr Harkin said councillors would receive a report later on Wednesday from council officers with more details on the exact number of people who applied.

Council says the scheme is aimed at helping 2,405 households in the district

The scheme is being run on a referral basis, which can be made by any local support organisation, school, church or charity.

Advice North West and Resource Centre Derry in Carnhill was appointed by the council to undertake the eligibility checks, with the Bryson Charitable Group providing payments to successful applicants.

People were also able to refer themselves using an application that was made available on the council's website.

Successful applicants for the scheme must meet certain eligibility criteria, the council has said.

Eligibility criteria:

• the household earns a total income of less than £40,000

• a member of the household is entitled to free school meals

• the household is in debt with an energy provider

• there is a "vulnerable person" in the household

• a member of the household has recently become unemployed

• a member of the household is on a zero-hours contract

Mr Harkin said the council estimated successful applicants would start seeing payments being made by the beginning of next week.

A council spokesperson said the council and their advice service partners would now work to review all the paperwork.

They added that given the scale of the cost-of-living crisis and the response to the referral scheme, the funding would only reach a small proportion of those who applied.

A UK-wide scheme to help people with their energy bills has still not been delivered in Northern Ireland.