CALOR Gas and Shell have formed a joint venture company, Autogas, to help roll out liquefied petroleum gas at Shell forecourts in the UK. The fuel companies say the move shows they are taking the lead in encouraging use of the fuel and they promise to have opened 200 fuel pumps on forecourts in the next 18 months, to meet a target set in 1998.

Jonathan Murray, manager of Powershift, the Government-funded programme which provides grants to encourage use of alternative fuels, said: 'This is a real shot in the arm for the LPG market and should persuade anyone considering the fuel that it has a long-term future.