If it all sounds like too much hassle, the simplest fuel-saving alternative is to share the load. Websites such as www.liftshare.co.uk will link you up with people making similar journeys and you can take it in turns to drive, instantly halving your fuel bills. Liftshare, which was started by a Bristol University student in 1997, now has more than 87,000 members.

The company makes its money by charging companies and local authorities for setting up lift-share websites on their behalf, which means the service is free to users. All you do is enter your details and the journey you want to make and you’ll be matched to other members making a similar journey who you can then contact via e-mail.

“In the last three months the number of registrations has doubled,” says Imogen Martineau, development manager for Liftshare. “We are now getting more than 100 people signing up every day.”

DEAN TRUBY — BIODIESEL

Dean Truby travels about 1,400 miles every week and was getting through 65 gallons of fuel driving up and down the country in his Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.

“I worked out I was spending at least £7,000 a year on diesel,” says Truby, 37, a specialist renderer from Devon. “I started looking for alternatives and came across Green Fuels, which was selling make-your-own biodiesel kits, and decided to give it a try. I now make biodiesel for about 50p per litre. And it would be a lot less if it wasn’t for the 27p tax.”

Truby, who is registered with Customs and Excise as a fuel producer, has run his van on biodiesel for several months and claims to have had no problems. “You could say I’m a green white van man,” he says.

He buys waste food oil from a specialist collector for about 13p per litre then, using the kit from Green Fuels, he heats the oil before mixing it with a small amount of methanol and sodium hydroxide to separate off the waste and glycerine. The mixture is left to settle for a couple of hours before the biodiesel is syphoned through a filter into a storage container and is ready for use.

Truby, who is married with two sons, now plans to sell his excess to recoup his outlay and is considering running the family 4x4 on biodiesel. “The only time I ever go to the petrol station these days is to buy a Mars bar,” he says.

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