CHECKS have revealed that garages selling a greener vehicle fuel are not conning motorists.

Durham County Council's consumer services department carried out checks on 17 dispensers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the county.

All were found to be within Government-agreed guidelines on the accuracy of measurement of petrol and diesel pumps, which are strictly controlled. But LPG dispensers are not regulated under UK law and have no set legal tolerances for excess or deficiency.

LPG, also known as Autogas, is more environmentally-friendly than unleaded petrol or diesel and is also cheaper, selling for about half the cost of lead-free petrol.

There are more than five million LPG vehicles in the world, but only 89,000 are in the UK. This is forecast to rise to about 250,000 by the end of 2005.

Phillip Holman, the council's head of consumer services, said: "People may be familiar with the regular testing we carry out on equipment such as petrol pumps and shop scales, but we are always keen to check any new kinds of equipment, like LPG dispensers, to make sure that consumers are getting a fair deal."

Council deputy leader Don Ross said: "We are pleased that our checks show the LPG dispensers are accurately measuring the quantity of fuel delivered.

"Consumer services will continue to take an active interest in ensuring consumers get a fair deal, whatever the product."