TOPPING up car oil is taking on a whole new meaning at a Bewdley-based firm - as it is being put in the petrol tank.

Keith Coldrick, owner of Pelican Food Services, is running his company's seven vehicles - including his own Mitsubishi Shogun - on biodiesel recycled from waste cooking oil.

As well as being environmentally-friendly, the fuel works out much cheaper than its diesel equivalent.

Pelican's core business is delivering vegetable oil to the catering industry and collecting it again. Recycling the reclaimed oil is now powering the Longbank-based company's vehicles.

Mr Coldrick was so impressed by the technology that processes the waste product to make it suitable for transport use that he invested in the American-made equipment to refine the used oil himself.

He is now a distributor of the equipment, selling it on to other people who want to follow his example.

"Since February, our vehicles have run on our own fuel, protecting our own environment and that of our customers and the general public," he said.

"It reflects the company's positive attitude to developing in an environmentally-friendly manner that is good for business.

"We can help caterers who want to address their contribution to global warming reduce the impact of their supply chain."

Burning fossil fuels, such as normal diesel, releases ancient carbon dioxide into the air, leading to global warming. Biodiesel, produced from vegetable oil, however, releases the same carbon dioxide the plant absorbed when it grew, rating it carbon-neutral.

The chemical reaction key to refining the waste oil removes glycerine which would, otherwise, gum up the diesel engine's injectors.

In cash terms, the duty on biodiesel is 20p a litre, compared to 47.1p per litre. Biodiesel also has the advantage of being alone in not being classified as alternative fuel, which would carry a higher rate of duty.

Dismissing fears that driving a vehicle fuelled by the recycled product might make it smell like a mobile chippy, Mr Coldrick said: "It's certainly not a noticeable smell. If you left the engine ticking over and walked past it, you wouldn't think 'what's that smell?'".