The plant has ordered a fleet of five Mitsubishi GRENDIA FG30N2 trucks.

A potato processing plant in Shropshire has reduced its carbon footprint and its fuel bills after switching to LPG forklifts from West Midlands dealer Jofson Mitsubishi.

Market Drayton-based ER Birch & Sons considered several options when looking for forklifts. It wanted to cut emissions and costs without compromising its trucks' performance to load and unload 1 T boxes of potatoes for sorting, grading and storage at heights of up to six metres (20 ft.).

Eventually, the family firm settled on a solution involving a fleet of five Mitsubishi GRENDIA FG30N2 trucks from West Midlands dealer Jofson Mitsubishi.

According to Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks UK, the move to hire LPG forklifts is "ground-breaking" in an agricultural setting, where ruggedness is essential and bought trucks, running on low-tax red diesel, are the norm.

However, the LPG trucks offer cleaner, quieter performance than diesel in a food-handling environment where much of the work is done indoors. It also produces around half the total greenhouse gases of diesel (1.7 kg/3.75 lb. per litre, compared with 3.2 kg/7.05 lb.).

ER Birch & Sons owner Phil Birch says he was not entirely convinced of the trucks' positives until a demonstrator Mitsubishi truck arrived on site. "I did wonder whether the performance would be comparable with a diesel truck - we work long, hard shifts here - as well as how easy we'd find the refuelling.

"But any doubts were allayed the moment the demonstrator arrived. The quality and performance were obvious straight away. It was easy to use, too, and the fuel consumption was just as good as Mitsubishi said it would be."

A flexible hire deal with Jofson enabled ER Birch to put five brand new, three-tonne LPG trucks to work on its site, where operators have been impressed by their ability to handle 11 and 12-hour shifts, performing shuttle and long-run work in challenging agricultural conditions.

Andy Homer of Jofson says the dealer was more than happy to let Phil Birch take a GRENDIA to try out. "We know the GRENDIA's LPG consumption figures look too good to be true, so it's always good to have a chance to prove them in real life."

"There have been plenty of benefits for us, and no downsides at all," Birch says. "As well as the fuel economy and carbon footprint, the air quality inside our buildings has been a lot more pleasant since the change."