Pensioners and other people on low incomes are being hit by a lack of pre-payment machines for their gas supplies.

A year ago there were five outlets in Witney for hundreds of British Gas cardholders to pay in advance and charge up their meters.

Now there are just two, on opposite sides of the town, and there are cases of people missing out on fuel for heating and cooking.

Cardholder Lucy Gordon, of Colwell Drive, Witney, uses the system because she says she does not want to pay quarterly bills.

"There are many pensioners like me who prefer to pay as they go. But the nearest machine to me is nearly a mile away and I can't walk that far," said 74-year-old Mrs Gordon.

Mrs Gordon said her daughter had recently tried to fill up her card, but had to travel to Carterton because both Witney machines were out of action.

British Gas said the card system was preferred by a lot of pensioners and others on low incomes, but admitted there had been problems.

Spokesman Wendy Sawyer said: "The pre-payment cardholder system is franchised out to independent operators.

"We know that they are not always able to find people who are prepared to be an outlet. We understand, however, that they are looking into it."