Launched at the start of 2015 to provide access to LPG vehicle conversions, the first phase of Autogas’s new nationwide network of garages is complete.

Autogas have picked 5 garages to launch the network. Located in key strategic locations around the UK, including Edinburgh, the north-east, Birmingham and the north-west. The conversion company said the workshops were selected after rigorous assessments to ensure they are technically competent and deliver service to the very highest standards.

Linda Gomersall, general manager of Autogas, is said: “This pioneering scheme is part of our long term vision to place LPG as a leading solution to the growing problem of air pollution. In making autogas LPG conversions more readily available and ensuring converters deliver the best service for fleet operators and private individuals, we expect that many more drivers will be making the switch to the cleaner fuel which also helps to significantly lower their fuel bills too.”

Autogas anticipates the demand for LPG conversions to take on extra significance in the coming months, following the recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered the UK to prepare new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission before the end of 2015. As LPG vehicles emit less than 80 per cent NO2 compared with diesel vehicles, the new conversion network is ideally placed to assist drivers in making the switch to a cleaner alternative said Autogas.

Gomersall concluded: “With air pollution responsible for up to twenty nine thousand deaths per year – more than obesity and alcohol combined, and equivalent to a town the size of Stratford upon Avon – we hope our growing network of expert specialists will become an integral element of the UK’s plans to improve air quality.”

Following the initial recruitment phase, Autogas intends to add more members throughout the year, with plans to grow the network to more than twenty members by the end of 2015.