Legally, using red diesel is wrong, morally? That's debatable, especially when red costs 75ppl and clear is 140ppl, most of which is tax and tax on top of tax. Personally, I don't use it, I haven't got a spare £500 to pay the fine if I get caught but I don't have a problem with people who do.
Here in Ireland, it would surprise you how many cars are running on it. Part of my job is working with end of life vehicles and the depollution of same, and I would hazard a guess to at least half of them being full of red.
There are a few clandestine 'clubs' running where say, 20 drivers put in £25 each and everyone fills up with red. When someone gets caught, the fine is paid and everyone puts in another £25 and the whole process starts again.
'Washed' diesel is another big thing here. The dye is removed from red diesel using white earth, £60 for a bag which treats around 1,000 litres of diesel. A laundering plant was recently discovered near my house in an old quarry. People had been in washing diesel for 2-3 months, the farmer who owned the quarry discovered the operation, came in the next day with a digger and squashed the whole thing up. There wasn't anything more said about it.
Yes, it might seem like I know a lot about this sort of thing but I have nothing to do with it, my job just leads me to deal with people from all walks of life and I see a lot of stuff.
Also, my first post. Hello!
