DEPARTMENT store group John Lewis Partnership claims it is saving almost £50,000 a year in fuel by using liquefied petroleum gas-powered cars.

It operates 59 LPG bi-fuel cars – mainly Vauxhall Astras – as part of an environmental policy which encourages the use of cleaner vehicles. The company estimates its fuel cost savings to be £47,500 a year and with the London congestion charge now in operation, plus road tax and company car tax savings available for LPG, the company believes this figure could be more than doubled.

John Lewis provides the fuel on site for company cars, charged at 28p per litre, and it has received grants of about £50,000 towards greening its fleet through the TransportEnergy PowerShift initiative.

Car fleet manager Chris Miles said: 'John Lewis switched over to green fuels to save money through using clean, efficient vehicles and to significantly reduce emissions. We will save further costs now congestion charging has been introduced because our vehicles receive the 100% discount from the charge and we can pass on fuel savings to our drivers.'

With the end of the financial year approaching, fleets are now being encouraged to switch to green fuels and take advantage of PowerShift grants which can amount to 75% of the extra cost of purchasing clean fuel vehicles.

For more information go to www.powershift.org.uk or call the PowerShift hotline number on 0845 602 1425