PROPERTY company OCS expects to slash thousands of pounds from its annual London congestion charging bill by converting 40 of its 2,650-vehicle fleet to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The London-based company has 400 vehicles registered for use within the charging zone but hopes to achieve savings by converting 10% of the fleet to Vauxhall Dualfuel vehicles. The 40 vehicles include Astra estates, Astravans and Combo Dualfuels. They will be used within the capital and OCS will evaluate the rest of its fleet with a view to converting to LPG later. LPG cars are exempt from the London congestion charge.

Tim Murray, head of procurement at OCS, said: 'The LPG vehicles will be used by cleaning operatives and service and maintenance engineers who travel every day into central London. These are vital journeys which cannot be avoided, but we have also changed work patterns and vehicle usage to dramatically cut the number of vehicle journeys we need to make.'