THE Queen has halved her official travel costs over the last 10 years by replacing old limousines with people carriers and hiring cars for major state occasions. According to the latest Royal Trustees report, the cost of running vehicles used for travel by Her Majesty and Royal Household staff in 1991 was £82,786, but the projected cost for 2000 is £39,350.

The just-in-time rental policy has helped slash vehicle maintenance bills, down from £27,310 in 1991 to an expected £8,000 this year.

For official duties there are eight state limousines - five Rolls-Royce Phantoms and three elderly Daimler limousines - as well as three Vauxhall Sintras.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman told Fleet News: 'The old Daimlers have been kept on because you can still buy spares for them. But there will come a time when they are no longer used. The Sintras are often used in place of the Daimlers because they are more modern and their fuel consumption is better.

'Vehicles are often leased during state visits - if we had a large fleet of MPVs, for example, they would spend most of the year doing nothing so it makes more sense to lease them when they are needed.'

Among the Palace's money-saving measures was the conversion in 1998 of a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI and a Daimler limousine to run on liquefied petroleum gas.

For private use the Queen uses a Daimler saloon or a Vauxhall Omega estate, while Prince Philip has a Range Rover, and, for short journeys in London, a Metrocab converted to LPG.

Despite these efficiencies, even the Monarch hasn't been able to avoid spiralling fuel costs - up from £25,013 a decade ago to a forecast £43,150 for 2000.