OLD cooking oil is powering a council dustbin wagon as part of a scheme to look for cheaper alternatives to diesel.

Blackburn with Darwen Council believes it has become the first authority in the country to start using a new fuel which is derived from used cooking oil.

Two vehicles are testing out the new form of fuel -- a minibus used for ferrying social services patients around and a dustbin wagon.

It can be used without adapting any engines, but is slightly more expensive to buy.

However, council chiefs hope the fact the fuel is supposed to give more miles to the gallon will lead to it becoming a viable alternative to diesel.

It also reduces the amount of emissions which come from traditional diesel engines.

Peter Hunt, council director of direct services, said: "We have been using the new fuel on two vehicles for the past few weeks and everything seems to be going well.

"We have installed a tank which the two vehicles use and hopefully we will continue to use it. It is slightly more expensive but the miles per gallon is supposed to make a difference.

"We are always looking for fuels which are more environmentally friendly than existing ones but our priority has to be reliability.

"People wouldn't care how environmentally friendly our vehicles were if their bins weren't being emptied because the lorries kept breaking down. As far as we know, we are the first council in the country to use the fuel, which is supplied to us direct."

It isn't the first time the council has tried new fuels.

Around 20 years ago, the council pioneered the use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG), but was abandoned because it was not readily available for all vehicles.

More recently, the council has tried adapting some vehicles to use a part-LPG, part-diesel mix.

Mr Hunt said: "Basically, they work by using diesel to start the engine and when the vehicle is going, it switches to LPG.

"It costs about £1,000 for the converter and an adapter is also used to reduce emissions.

"We are now looking at other forms of fuel as well."