FLEETS considering buying alternatively-fuelled vehicles have been reassured that the gap in prices between conventional and cleaner fuels will continue to grow, with further savings likely in the next Budget. Chairman of the Labour Backbench Environment, Transport and the Regions Departmental Committee Geraint Davies told fleet managers at the latest Powershift seminar that companies could be confident that using such vehicles would result in cheaper running costs.

'The costs per mile of using LPG, electricity and natural gas are significantly less than for using conventional fuels,' he said. 'It's fairly clear you can expect to have further marginal savings in the Budget in favour of alternative fuels. Marginal differences in fuel cost will continue, and arguably may increase, so from a business point of view, it makes sense to buy such vehicles now.'

Davies said technology would play a major part in enabling Britain to meet ambitious emissions targets, without the drastic measures adopted in Paris last year when emergency measures had to be put in place to keep traffic out of the city. He called for more fiscal incentives to encourage use of green fuels and for vehicle manufacturers to take further steps into the UK market place.