A LEDBURY motorbike enthusiast has done his bit for the planet by converting a classic motorbike to run on bio-fuel.

Trevor Williams, of the New Mills estate, took advice from local companies Dual Sport Motorcycles and Intime Engineering to install a special diesel engine into the 500 CC Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike.

The bike is now being run in on bio-fuel he buys from Bransford Bio-Fuels Ltd at around 92p a gallon, compared to around £1 for diesel.

Mr Williams said the fuel was recycled from cooking oil and its use in his bike has doubled the miles to the gallon that the Enfield can manage up to an impressive 160 miles.

Mr Williams added: "You do get a drop in performance. Top speed is about 65 miles an hour and you do smell like a chip-shop when you go up the road.

"But the bike is carbon neutral. The only carbon it gives out is that which the plants have taken in, during their growing life.

"I care very much about the environment and I am very keen on recycling. If we don't all sort something out soon, we'll all be in trouble."

Now the self-employed mechanic is considering offering to convert other bikes to bio-fuels as a service.

Mr Williams himself has been considering doing a conversion for 20 years, but gained his final inspiration while watching Dick Strawbridge on the television show It's Not Easy Being Green.

Mr Williams said: "I thought, if you can convert a car to bio-fuels, why not a bike?"

The stunning motorbike he picked, though a classic 1950's design, is only two years old because the Enfield company in India carried on making them, after the British company closed.

Anyone interested in Mr Williams converting their bike to bio-fuel can contact him on 01531 634485.