Tesco customer is spotted filling up his car with COOKING OIL

This is the moment a man was spotted refueling his car with a trolley full of cooking oil as drivers struggle with the cost of filling up.

With fuel prices hitting record highs, a customer was filmed outside a Tesco superstore in Congleton, Cheshire, on Tuesday afternoon.


In the video he can be seen at the rear of his car with a trolley-load of vegetable oil bottles that he starts to open.

One by one he then pours the oil into his vehicle as bemused onlookers watch him.

Mark Rainford, who recorded the clip, said: 'I filmed it and as I walked past him he was taking all the tops off the bottles first, that's what made me laugh. He had clearly thought it through.'

While some viewers praised the man for his ingenuity, using cooking oils as a replacement for fuel can prove extremely risky and can cause lasting damage to engines.

One man on social media said: 'It's going to be a busy night for the AA when everyone tries this in their modern diesel engines.'

Another critic said: 'Don't go putting veg oil in your car or van unless it's old type diesel engine.

'You'll f*** your engine up, it's too thick and you'll blow the diesel pump up. And especially don't put it in a petrol car/van.'

A third person posted: 'To use veg oil you need a heater in the fuel system and also the glycerine in the oil will eventually clog up the fuel system and homogenise the engine lubrication oil.

'The only way it works is to convert it to biodiesel using toxic and dangerous chemicals.'

The AA and RAC have been approached for comment. 

The video clip comes as customer continue to be clobbered by a record rise in petrol and diesel prices at a time when household energy bills are also increasing. 

Average price of petrol at forecourts hit a record 165.89p per litre yesterday, up from 148.0p just a month ago - while diesel was at 177.34p, up from 151.6p a month ago. 

Senior Tory MP Robert Halfon has warned the rises could put Britain in a 'de facto lockdown' by making it impossible for people to fill-up, ministers have been warned.

The backbencher said parents will soon no longer be able to afford to take their children to school while workers will struggle to get to work.

The steep rises in fuel prices have also sparked fears of a wave of thefts by opportunist thieves looking to sell the fuel on or others desperate to avoid paying.

The Telegraph reported that rural households stockpiling oil in their back-garden tanks are being targeted by thieves who are exploiting the surge to sell the stolen fuel on the black market.

Sarah Lee, Director of Policy for the Countryside Alliance told MailOnline police were already advising the public to 'keep their tanks in a well-overlooked position'.

'With worrying reports of thieves targeting rural households to steal oil to sell on the black market, it is critical that rural home owners and farmers ensure their security, including cctv and security lighting, is up and running,' she said.