Cancer patients need fuel charity

Cancer patients are becoming increasingly reliant on charity handouts to heat their homes as they struggle to pay rising fuel bills, newly-published figures have shown.

Macmillan Cancer Support said it had made one-off payments totalling £2,548,563 to 12,669 cancer patients to help with fuel costs during 2011, a sharp increase on the 7,369 patients needing similar help just five years ago.