Thousands of British motorists are getting their cars modified to run on cheaper liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as soaring petrol prices squeeze household budgets, the LPG industry said.

LPG at the pump in the UK is less than half the price of record petrol and diesel prices which are surging on the back of crude oil prices.
“There have been a record level of enquiries (about having cars converted to LPG) in the last two to three months,” Mike Chapman, automotive administrator at the UK’s LPG Association, said.
“People are realising they can save money,” he said.
British petrol stations are hurriedly investing in bigger signs and new pumps capable of displaying prices with an extra digit as prices soar towards a pound a litre.
LPG prices at the pump are stable at about 40 pence a litre. Petrol and diesel cost more than double that at around 90 pence.
“LPG prices at the pumps have not risen anything like as much as for petrol and diesel,” said Andrew Ford, a spokesman for Calor, the UK’s biggest LPG supplier which supplies to motorists through a joint venture with Shell.
Cars do fewer miles to the litre on LPG but fuel cost savings still amount to 40 per cent over petrol and 20 per cent over diesel, according to the LPG Association.
British motorists can buy LPG through 1,300 distribution points across the country. There is also a network of approved companies for converting engines to run on LPG, a process which costs at least 1,600 pounds.
Chapman said the number of cars being converted to LPG was already significantly higher than last year’s total of 15,000. About 120,000 cars and small vans in the UK run on LPG – 0.5 per cent of the total 30 million vehicles on the road.
LPG is also catching on in the rest of Europe, with Italy, France and the Netherlands key markets. “Germany is the fastest growing market,” said Chapman.
Calor’s Ford said environmental performance was also driving interest in LPG, which produces 20 per cent less carbon dioxide than petrol and is also cleaner than diesel.