Delays to support for energy bills could be the difference between some businesses surviving or closing, a pub landlord has said.

The Bailey Head is one of many businesses in Oswestry that have had to switch providers in order to survive the hike in energy prices.

Duncan Borrowman, owner of the pub, has seen his business's daytime energy bill rate increase tenfold in recent weeks, while night time rates have multiplied by five.

He said: "It is a huge impact, we have to switch providers, as they told us we could not have a night rate anymore, and it would be a flat rate for the whole 24 hours.

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"We have a lot of equipment in the cellar that runs overnight, and we just simply can't afford it."

He explained that the company the business is using now has also announced that prices will go up again, mean he and his wife, with whom he also co-owns the pub, decided to switch providers.

"Moving to a different provider will give us a night rate, which is not as bad, but still not ideal," he added.

Border Counties Advertizer: The Bailey Head.The Bailey Head. (Image: Google.)

"There is talk that the government will do something about it but they haven't released anything yet.

"A delay could mean the decision of whether a business will survive or not."

The owners of the pub are looking at making more changes in order to keep their business running, from changing their opening times on slower days, to taking on more work hours themselves, as they can't afford to employ more people.

Mr Borrowman is also looking at replacing some of the old fridges in the cellar with newer more energy effective models, to help with the bills, but he admits he can not cut his range down by too much.

He said: "We have a massive range, we won awards for that, and we need fridges to keep that up.

"It's about preserving the beer, it's not just about we'll keep them warm and stick them in the fridge for half an hour for people, a lot of our drinks need to stay cold to preserve the taste."

Duncan added: "We have a cellar we have to keep cold, and a pub we have to keep warm, it's a lot."