The Midland firm which creates the vodka deemed the world’s best has revealed plans to expand into vehicle fuel.

Potato entrepreneur William Chase, the creator of the Tyrrells Crisp and Chase Vodka brands, believes that waste from his Herefordshire vodka distillery could be used to make an environmentally friendly fuel.

It is hoped that the fluid left behind in the coppers after Chase Vodka’s high grade spirit has been distilled is still fermentable, with the potato waste.

Mr Chase said: “We have known for a long time that potato starch is an excellent source of bio-ethanol but this new scheme will tap the resources left behind in distillery waste.

“There has been research completed at Edinburgh Napier University that has demonstrated that pot ale – the fluids left behind from the distilling process – can be fermented into biobutanol. I don’t see why we can’t do the same in Herefordshire.

Biobutanol has been described as the next generation of biofuel. It gives internal combustion engines 30 per cent more output power than ethanol and can fuel ordinary cars without the need for expensive adaptations to the engine.

“We would need local partners to create enough biomass to make the project commercially viable,” said Mr Chase. “But I firmly believe that vegetable matter will provide the world with the next generation of fuels.”

In May Chase Vodka was named the world’s finest at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.