A multi-million pound chip shop supplier has invested in an £100,000 refining facility in Gateshead to fuel its fleet of vehicles.

Henry Colbeck Ltd has 12 cars and 28 trucks with a combined usage of 500,000 litres of fuel per year on a blend of up to 5% biodiesel and 95% mineral diesel.

Through converting cooking oil collected from its customers, Colbeck has realised a saving of 20p per litre in tax on its biodiesel element.

“We approved this scheme with the objective of understanding our market from beginning to end and of being able to make a return at all points of the cyclical market,” said Andrew Naylor, managing director of Colbeck.

“It has been a success against that measure and has generated a cash contribution towards the investment.”

However, Mr Naylor stressed that for a bona fide operator paying the duty and holding all the necessary licences it is not a “get rich quick scheme”.

Meanwhile, HW Martin Waste Ltd is asking people to recycle their used cooking oil at its 36 household recycling centres it manages on behalf of the public sector.

Once converted, the recycling company is using the biofuel in its fleet of 200 specialist vehicles.

Procurement and logistics manager Robin Akers said: “There are little or no financial advantages to using the fuel as a business, the advantages are environmental.”