A video of a man using a trolley full of cooking oil to re-fill his petrol tank has amused viewers and social media users online.

The customer was spotted in a Tesco car park on Tuesday afternoon (March 15), and filmed by Mark Rainford who lives in Congleton, Cheshire.

The video shows the man standing next to the back of his car with a trolley loaded with bottles of oil, Cheshire Live reports.

Then, the man unscrews the bottles one at a time, and pours the oil into his car.

Since the video was posted on Facebook on Tuesday, alongside the caption "what fuel prices", it has received more than 380 reactions, 730-plus comments and more than 1,400 shares.

Speaking to Cheshire Live, Mark 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."

Hundreds of people were amused by the video, with some praising the man for his ingenuity and saying the car would 'run just fine'. Others were more pessimistic over the vehicle's chances of functioning.

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

Another commenter 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."

One 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.

Tesco customer fills up petrol tank with cooking oil in car park amid fuel price rise

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

The video comes after a record rise in petrol and diesel prices, at a time where energy bills are also increasing.

As of Wednesday morning (March 16), diesel rose to a record high of £1.76 per litre, while petrol was recorded to be at £1.64 a litre.

Can you fill up your car with cooking oil?

A quick Google search will bring up advice over whether using cooking oil to power vehicles is viable. Cooking oil delivery firm Cater Oils says recycling vegetable oil into a biodiesel is possible.

But on its advice page, the company adds a caveat that people really shouldn't just pour the oil directly from the bottle into their cars.

This is due to it being so thick and sticky.

It won't flow properly through the engine and it will not be burnt efficiently. This could cause it to solidify and build up, damaging the engine.

The process of turning cooking oil into biodiesel, and therefore an efficient source of fuel, is called transesterification. But Cater Oils advises that this should be left to the experts.

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