Store’s veg oil van ban baffles grocer (From Oxford Mail)

Store’s veg oil van ban baffles grocer

9:00am Wednesday 15th February 2012 in Didcot By Andrew Ffrench

Chris Waites

COMMUNITY grocer Chris Waites says he was banned by managers at a Tesco store for buying vegetable oil to fuel his delivery van.

Mr Waites, of Long Wittenham, said the ban from managers at the store in Didcot came after he bought six five-litre bottles of vegetable oil to fill up the van he uses for his grocery business.

The transit van has been adapted to run on vegetable oil.

Mr Waites said he clashed with bosses at the store in Wallingford Road when he bought the bottles of oil at the store on Thursday and told them what he was using it for.

He said when he returned to the supermarket on Saturday to buy other items, he was told he was no longer welcome because using vegetable oil to run a vehicle was a criminal activity.

He said: “A member of staff told me in front of lots of other customers that I was no longer welcome at the store because I had been using vegetable oil illegally for my van.

“Using vegetable oil to run a vehicle is not illegal and it was embarrassing to be branded a criminal in this way in front of lots of other shoppers.

“Normally we get given the vegetable oil free from pubs and restaurants but on this occasion I’d gone to Tesco.

“We deliver groceries to people in rural areas but I can’t imagine Tesco are trying to stop me from using my van because they feel threatened by the competition.”

Mr Waites said he had been a customer at the store for seven years and he was not aware of any other reason why he was being banned.

He added: “The day before I bought the oil I went to customer services because the store had overcharged me for a pack of PG Tips. I got a refund but that was all sorted out and I can’t believe Tesco are being so petty.”

Tesco spokesman David Nieberg said: “We are investigating the matter.”

Mr Waites, who lives with wife Miriam, 27, said his 2.5-litre Ford Transit van had been adapted to run on vegetable oil. He said: “I have been running the van this way for about six years and it’s perfectly legal. The Government actually gives you a tax-free allowance every year if you use vegetable oil. We cover about 50 miles a day travelling around South Oxfordshire and use about 2,300 litres a year.

“A litre of diesel now costs over £1.40 at the pumps whereas a litre of vegetable oil costs about 90p.”

In December, Mr Waites successfully challenged the legality of Speedwatch signs on the A4074 Dorchester bypass.

The Speedwatch signs – which warn drivers to reduce their speed and stay in lane – have been in place on the A4074 Dorchester bypass since 2002, but Mr Waites complained the signs should be removed because overtaking is not illegal on the wide central area.

Following checks with the Department for Transport, Oxfordshire County Council said it now planned to remove the signs.

CLEANER, GREENER, CHEAPER

IN recent years, firms in Oxfordshire have provided drivers with a source of greener, cheaper motoring by turning oil used for frying chips into biodiesel.

After collecting drums of used oil from cafés and takeaways, firms refine the liquid into a fuel suitable for most diesel engines.

But specially adapted engines, like the one in Mr Waites’s van, can run on unrefined vegetable oil.

Biodiesel emits much less unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and other harmful substances, and does not produce the noxious black smoke associated with mineral diesel.

However, biodiesel is not a lover of cold mornings and may cause start-up problems at very low temperatures.