CHEAPER gas and electricity could be on the way for thousands of families.

Calderdale Council is looking at creating a community fuel buying fund to tackle fuel poverty.

The council could soon be among the first local authorities in the country to sign up to collective purchasing and offer a scheme which will allow all residents to buy cheaper gas and electricity.

Town hall bosses can take advantage of a collective energy bulk-purchasing scheme.

Elland’s Clr David Hardy is chair of the Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel which is leading a bid to tender fuel companies to supply Calderdale.

Calderdale is following the lead of a Cambridgeshire and Lancashire local authority, who are also exploring the idea.

They will ask energy firms to bid for the right to fuel the fund – and the more people signed up to it the better deal they can get from energy companies.

Clr Hardy said: “Next Friday we’ll be submitting the application for a community fund for energy purchasing.

“It’s got to be done by March so it all has to be done very, very quickly, but we need to move quick to tackle winter fuel poverty.