Inventor Mike Lawton is one man who won't be joining long queues for fuel.

Mike Lawton, left, with Mike Peplers

Mr Lawton has developed a device to enable diesel cars to run on chip oil.

He said: "I admit to a slight feeling of smugness every time I pass a garage full of queuing cars."

Futuretec has signed up its first commercial customer -- removals company Lakehaven, part of the US group Safepac, based at Milton Park.

"We have developed the device for HGVs and Lakehaven has been trying it out with a 40-tonne Volvo. Now managers have asked us to fit a device to another four of the company's lorries," said Mr Lawton.

Garage M&M Commercials of Milton Park sells the refined chip oil, tax paid, at 69.5 pence a litre.

Gordon Matthews, of Lakehaven, said: "Its fantastic. We buy the vegetable oil in bulk 3,000 litres at a time and pay just 59p a litre tax paid.

"A lot of our work involves driving down to Newquay in Cornwall, as the US Military have a base there, and we do a lot of work for them. We can drive all the way down there in an articulated lorry, and back again, without needing to fill up.

"We log our mileage carefully and reckon that the lorry does as well or even better than the nine miles to the gallon it achieves with diesel."

Now Lakehaven is planning to install a bulk container for chip oil to stand alongside its bulk container for diesel at Milton Park.

Mr Lawton explained that a device was necessary as the viscosity of chip oil is different to that of diesel fuel.

He is planning to franchise UK garages to fit his invention. At present M&M will fit the devices at between £380 and £780.

Converted vehicles, including the bus used by Milton Park employees, use diesel for start-up and then switch to an auxillary tank of vegetable oil.

More expensive conversions include dials to let the user know how much vegetable oil is in the tank.