The breakdown in talks came as it emerged that a record number of motorists are converting their cars to run on cheaper, greener LPG fuel to avoid the rising cost of petrol and diesel.
Since the start of the year the number of drivers making the switch has doubled and garages are struggling to keep up with demand.
LPG, or Liquefied Petroleum Gas is a mix of propane and butane created as a by-produce of oil production and sells at just 49 pence per litre.
This compares with petrol at 117.28 pence per litre and diesel at 130.69 pence per litre.
The number of people using the fuel, also known as autogas, has risen from 3,500 in 1998 to 150,000 this year as families struggle to cope with the increasing cost of motoring.
Conversions cost £2,000 and involve installing an additional tank, extra fuel lines and injectors to push the gas into the engine. Some tanks can enable a car to travel up to 300 miles before refilling.
Mike Chapman, director of the LP Gas Association, said: “Conversion centres up and down the country are all reporting a massive increase in the number of cars they are converting to autogas.
“In the space of six months their workload has more than doubled and at some centres it has trebled.
“It makes perfect sense in both economic and environmental terms.”
Demand for LPG was particularly high in London, because it exempted drivers from the congestion charge.
Now, thanks to the rise in fuel prices, demand is spreading across the country.
John Waghorn of Wokingham-based Nicholson McLaren Engines, which supplies conversion kits, said his company was struggling to keep up with the demand.
“We can’t produce the equipment fast enough,” he added. “We import a lot of the equipment and as soon it arrives it is immediately being fitted to a vehicle.
“Our suppliers have been forced to increase production to cope with the sales and even that isn’t enough to satisfy the market.
The popularity of LPG has increased even though the Government, in the 2006 budget, watered down concessions offered to drivers who converted their cars after deciding to treat the gas as a “fossil fuel”.
Whereas alternative biofuels are only available at 21 outlets across the whole of the United Kingdom, LPG can be bought at 1,200 sites throughout the country.
This includes forecourts operated by the petrol giants: Shell, Esso and BP.
“It’s a good clean fuel. Even though the tax has gone up it’s a lot cheaper than diesel and petrol,” said an AA spokesman.
Although cars running on LPG are less efficient than those fuelled by petrol and diesel, the difference in price makes it worthwhile for anyone driving more than 15,000 miles a year.
Petrol powered cars can be converted to use LPG. This entails hardening the valves to cope with the higher temperature at which the gas burns.
It also entails installing a second tank, normally in the boot, which can be filled with LPG – while allowing a driver to have a conventional petrol tank as back-up.
While there are no restrictions on using LPG in the UK, cars powered by the gas are banned from using the Channel Tunnel, for safety reasons.
Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/2118297/Threat-of-petrol-station-closures-as-tanker-strike-talks-fail.html
