FIRMS will face higher fuel bills when the government's new climate change levy - dubbed the carbon tax - comes into force in April.

But a device being marketed in South Lakeland and Furness could help businesses to save money by reducing fuel consumption.

Known as the Ecoflow, the device can be fitted to heating boilers and fuel lines in vehicles, and is said to cut energy consumption by up to 10 per cent as well as reducing harmful emissions.

Independent distributor Hugh Burrows of Kendal says the gadget contains a magnetic field which ionises the fuel, thereby boosting combustion.

He says similar technology was first employed by the RAF during the Second World War to increase the range and performance of Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft.

Mr Burrows, a teacher for 20 years until he retired after suffering a serious illness, admitted he was initially very sceptical about the device, but was won over by his own test results.

"I bought one of the units and fitted it to my central heating system.

I noticed an increase in the water temperature," he said.

Customers have also been equally with the device.

Kendal-based Playmates Day Nursery owner Heather Worsley said it had clearly made a difference.

"I have been taking readings because I wanted to make sure I was getting value for money.

It took about a month to settle down, but we are getting reduced consumption of gas.

I think over a year there will be substantial savings," she told Business Gazette.

Builder Allen Hill, husband of Sunny Brow Day Nursery owner Sallyanne, said he was "quite amazed" by the difference in temperature after fitting one of the units to the boiler at the Kendal nursery.

And Brewery general manager Graham Dentith said he hoped the device would eventually cut fuel bills by 10 per cent at the Kendal arts centre.

Furness Energy Project manager Maf Smith said there were good case studies of firms which had benefited from the Ecoflow, although he advised businesses to test out one unit before considering buying in bulk.

Another local distributor, Phil Bamford of Whitbarrow Lodge, Witherslack, has been selling the Ecoflow system for nine years.

The former Barclays Bank manager, once in charge of branches at Bentham, Carnforth, Garstang and Lancaster University, recognised the potential of the Ecoflow after fitting one to his own car.

He has sold thousands of the devices, made by a company in Cornwall which figured in The Sunday Times' top 100 list of Britain's fastest growing companies, and he says a major car plant in the North West is among his customers.

Others include Barrow furniture retailer Stollers, which has seen a 10 per cent increase in fuel economy since fitting the Ecoflow to its whole fleet of vehicles.

Managing director David Stoller told Business Gazette: "We have run them for a number of years in our fleet of 12 vehicles and we look to make economies wherever we can."