A WEST Country business has put the environment at the heart of its fleet policy with a pledge to run its vehicles on used cooking oil.

Burts Potato Chips uses 2,000 litres of cooking oil a week producing speciality crisps for distribution throughout Europe, oil it would ordinarily sell on to the pet food industry.

But instead of making money from the oil, it is being refined and used in place of diesel on its Mercedes-Benz van fleet.

Plymouth-based Bio-Fuels has joined forces with the company to refine the oil, before selling it back to the crisp firm.

Bio-fuel is a substitute for diesel made from reprocessed organic oils and fats. Makers claim it reduces the emission of toxic materials and heavy metals into the environment and only creates carbon dioxide which is absorbed by plants, reducing the levels of the gas in the atmosphere.

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