FLEET demand is at the heart of the aim of Calor Gas and Halfords to double the number of liquefied petroleum gas filling stations in the UK. They claim a standard fleet of 100 cars running on unleaded fuel and each covering 25,000 miles a year, could save £90,000 annually by switching to LPG.

As a result, Halfords will start to offer conversions to LPG, servicing of LPG vehicles and the sale of LPG at its garage centres. Each conversion takes around eight hours, and costs £1,100-£1,200. Refuelling will eventually be available on a 24-hours a day basis via a key card system so that fleet drivers can fill up at their convenience.

The programme - first revealed by last week - will be demand led, with the possibility of being rolled out to 135 Halfords sites nationwide - there are around 100 LPG filling stations in the country. Halfords already guarantees its garage parts and workmanship for 12 months or 12,000 miles, and this warranty will be extended to the lpg conversions and servicing.