Motorists converting their cars from petrol to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) can save up to 60 pence per litre, claims Autogas Limited's National Marketing Coordinator Chris Taylor.

Chris explains: 'LPG currently retails at around half the price of petrol and diesel. On a pence per litre basis, on average, LPG costs 51 per cent less than petrol and 56 per cent less than diesel.

'Converting a vehicle to run on LPG can be done quickly and easily by an approved converter and costs around ￡1,800. Based on current fuel prices and an annual mileage of 20,000 miles it would take around 22 months to recoup this initial cost.'

With no end in sight to the current high fuel prices, the time for motorists to join the growing number of LPG vehicle users in the UK has never been better.

Chris continues: 'Our technical team is always available to support motorists and fleet managers in the move towards Autogas as a fuel alternative.'

Autogas has welcomed the recent announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to postpone the increase in fuel duty this year, as it means that main road fuel duty rates will remain at 50.35 pence per litre for at least another six months.

Chris says: 'The announcement is welcome news for all motorists, not just people with LPG vehicles, and will hopefully prompt more people to make the switch to LPG.

'Light commercial and public sector fleet operators will benefit hugely from the reduced running costs from LPG, but all motorists can benefit from up to 100 per cent exemption from the London Congestion Charge and increased residual vehicle values by making the switch.

'What's more LPG motorists can rest assured they are doing their bit for the environment too as vehicles running on LPG produce far fewer harmful emissions that contribute to environmental and health problems than traditional road fuels. LPG vehicles produce 17 per cent less carbon dioxide than petrol and 2 per cent less than diesel, 120% less NOx than petrol and a staggering 2,000 per cent less than diesel and up to 120 times less small particle (PM10) emissions than diesel vehicles.

The UK, led by Autogas Limited with over 200 sites, has a well developed LPG refuelling infrastructure with around 1,400 public access sites, which are usually positioned on petrol forecourts. To make it even easier to find your nearest LPG refuelling site, Autogas, a joint venture between Calor and Shell, offers a free to download point of interest file for leading satellite navigation systems.