Nikko2

Just seen this This cannot be for real!!!


Customs on trail of cooking oil drivers Oct 9 2002




Robin Roberts, The Western Mail


ASDA in Llanelli tops the chain's UK sales league in cooking oil - because so many people in the town are using it as an alternative to diesel.

But now police and customs officers have created a "frying squad" to catch drivers using the cheap form of fuel to power their vehicles.

Traffic police and Customs officers can literally smell a revenue dodger because the vehicles' exhaust fumes compare with those from a chip shop.

Under new legislation they have impounded cars caught using cooking oil and charged owners £650 to release them.

At 32p a litre, the cooking oil is less than half the cost of diesel and HM Customs is losing fuel tax.

In the scam, drivers mix cooking oil with methanol to run their diesel-engine vehicles.

But they are committing an offence because all cars must pay fuel tax - and there is none on ordinary supermarket cooking oil.

Dyfed Powys Police and Customs yesterday confirmed they had launched a joint swoop in the Llanelli area because of the spiralling number of drivers who were using cooking oil to power their cars.

Officers launched a crackdown in Llanelli after word spread that using cooking oil was a cheaper way to drive.

One driver, who did not want to be named, said, "I've halved my motoring costs since I started running my diesel Subaru on cooking oil. The car runs just as well and even smells a lot better than diesel." The motorist was one of dozens who have had their cars impounded in the crackdown.

He said, "I was stopped by an unmarked car which had blue lights flashing.

"The officer went to the fuel tank, dipped it, and found cooking oil.

"I put my hands up to the offence and the car was towed away. They said Customs would be notified."

A Dyfed Powys Police spokesman said, "It is part of our spot stop-and-check fuel strategy to catch offenders dodging fuel taxes."

The Asda store in Llanelli confirmed it sells more cooking oil than any other branch in the country.

Asda spokeswoman Rachel Fellows said, "We have to admit we do sell a lot of cooking oil at our Llanelli store.

"But anyone seen attempting to wipe out our stock with bulk purchases would be stopped.

"We have limited sales per customer as a precaution."

Customs and Excise spokesman Bill O'Leary said, "All cars on public roads must pay a tax on the fuel they use.

"Evasion is a criminal offence and carries a maximum seven-year jail term."

The AA yesterday warned motorists of the dangers of running cars on cooking oil.

A spokeswoman said, "It could severely damage your vehicle if you do not follow the manufacturer's instructions about which fuel to use."

Petrol Retailers Association director Ray Holloway said, "There are legitimate refiners selling blended cooking oil but you will always find opportunist cowboys trying to cash in as well.

"It goes around by word of mouth and suddenly scores of people are using cooking oil in their vehicles.

"The situation has come about as a result of overtaxing fuel and making motorists pay more and more all the time."

pslewis

I saw this too - I find the concept that it is illegal really hard to accept! - what you run your car on is surely up to you??? You pay car tax to run the car on the road!!

If I choose to run my washing machine on 15 hamsters running arond the drum - that should be MY choice!!

If my car would run on water mixed with pee I would NOT expect to have the car impounded!!!?????

Pete

turboman786

I agree....its a scam that we have to pay duty even if we choose to use cooking oil.......muppets.

STI MAN

I would just Lurve to have the ability to wave my magic wand and wish for all scoob owners to have an eternal tankful!

We'd bankrupt Britain

suba

if you goto iraq, petrol is less than 1p/liter!!!

STI MAN

~60p for a full tank, I bet it's 100 Ron as well

Fast_Blue_Scooby

Doesn't matter what we get our cars to run on, the government will try and tax it.

What gets me is that the government has come to rely on the money from cigs, booze, petrol. If people think of a way around it, both illegal and legal, in this case IMO, the government throw a wobbly.

If cars were all to become electric cars, then they would be more taxes added to our electric bills.

We pay road tax to drive our vehicles on the roads, what we put in them is our own business!!

RichiW

Which is why eventually they`ll change the road tax system to how many miles you do a year.They cannot tax air/water so they`ll have to find another way to tax us(once technology catches up)

Rich.

johnfelstead

There are only 2 certainties in life.

Death and Taxes

Nuff said.

imatrukahs

I beleive it....come on it is Wales FFS.....

Imran

when did Subaru ever make a diesel engined car?