BP has opened the first of six alternative fuel filling sites it is setting up on forecourts throughout the country. The site, near Dunfermline, on the M90/A92 junction, was opened by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who is MP for the area.

The opening adds to a growing refuelling network for liquefied petroleum gas, with Shell investing £10 million in alternative fuels sites, including a recently opened station at Victoria, in London. BP has called on fleets to show their support for alternative fuels to give manufacturers the confidence to invest more widely in a refuelling network.

But Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, summed up the problems facing fleets in a recent speech to the House of Commons.

He said: 'Companies are concerned about the instability of the market in the UK. They need some view of a long-term future for alternative fuels. There is little or no incentive to switch and there is little evidence that the infrastructure will genuinely allow them to run their vehicles over long distances.'