DRIVERS have the chance to relive the days when petrol cost half of what it does today.

To mark Liftshare week, from Monday, October 3 to Friday, October 7, Devon County Council is encouraging people to sign up to carsharedevon.com and see how much money they can save by car sharing.

There are now more than 8,500 registered members on carsharedevon.com. It is a free service which allows people in Devon and across the south west to find others to share their journey, either taking turns with the driving, or giving someone a lift in exchange for a contribution to the fuel costs. It is commissioned by Devon County Council, in partnership with Plymouth and Torbay Councils.

“Petrol cost just 70p per litre in 1999; now it is almost double that,” said Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transportation. “But, with carsharedevon.com, it is possible to halve your journey’s fuel costs by sharing it with just one other person. Share with two other people and you’ll be getting your fuel cost down to about 46p per litre!

“Record prices at the pumps have really hit drivers hard, and we want to take the sting out of that. Liftshare week is a national event where thousands of people sign up to give car sharing a try. It’s the perfect time to use carsharedevon.com to find others who are going the same way so you can share the journey and the cost.”

Robert Willis has reduced the commuting miles he drives from 1,200 to 360 per month since signing up to the scheme.

Robert said: “I regularly share from Okehampton to Pynes Hill in Exeter with three other people that I found through carsharedevon.com. We don’t all work at the same site but have mutually agreed pick up and drop off points. I am saving �60 per week in fuel costs alone.”

Kevan Davies, from Willand, has a flexible car sharing arrangement with Jackie Bruce, Georgina Hipwell and Lesley Smith, who also live in the Willand and Cullompton area. He said: “We aren’t able to car share every day but do so as often as we can. We enjoy having a chat and find the journey goes much quicker and I also fill up with fuel a lot less since I’ve been sharing.”

Liftshare, the software providers, is running a network-wide competition, offering new and existing members the chance to win �250. They will select at random someone who sends a ‘request to share’ message between 3 and 9 October.

Users can now join and sign into carsharedevon.com using their Facebook account. They can also post the journeys they want to share to Facebook and Twitter.