A retired couple has been ordered to cap a natural gas well on their property in southern Ontario that has provided free heat for families there for more than 70 years.

Hector Murray and his wife Marjorie, of Newbury, Ont., have relied on the heating source for decades.

But the Ministry of Natural Resources wants the well, which has existed since 1931, capped. It has ordered the retired couple in their 70s to close the well at a cost of $30,000.

Murray was told three years ago that he needed a permit to operate the well, but received a notice to close the well after he applied for it, he said.

Government officials haven't given the couple a reason for wanting to close the well, he said.

The well, which was sold by a drilling company to farmers in the area, originally had four families sharing the gas line. Recently only two houses have been connected to the well.