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The credit crunch is forcing people to return to their grandparents’ habits.

Due to rising heating costs there has been a surge in the number of people wanting to use log and coal burning fires in their homes.

Medway Stoves and Fires has seen a 70 to 80 per cent rise in the last year in the number of woodburning stoves and other fires they have been fitting to local homes.

But it is not just new fires having a resurgence - it is boom times for chimney sweeps.

This time last year Keith Bell from the company was booked up around a fortnight in advance to clean chimneys in the North Kent area.

Video: So just how DO you sweep a chimney? See Keith Bell practising the age-old art in Gravesend in our video above

Currently the waiting list is up to five weeks and that is still with Mr Bell doing around 10 chimneys a day, six days a week.

The chimney sweeping side of the business is going so well, this year they’ve had to employ another member of staff.

The stove fitters are also extremely busy as people have cottoned on to the fact that installing a wood burner could save them money.

Mr Bell says the cost of installing a stove will be completely paid off within three to four years in an average house due to the savings on heating bills.

He added: “One customer who installed a stove two years ago was paying £120 every month for her gas and electricity, now she pays just £70.”

It might cost you a few thousand pounds to install a stove but the days of huddling round the fire on a winter’s evening seem to be returning for many across Kent as the credit crunch continues to bite.

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