A NEW fuel economy record has been set by Peugeot with its latest 208 diesel model clocking up an average of 141.2mpg in an official test run.

The new 1.6-litre 100ps BlueHDi model, which will be on sale in the summer, covered more than 1,300 miles using only 9.45 gallons of fuel.

The performance was achieved on the Peugeot test circuit at Belchamp in France and was supervised by the French Type Approval Authority, UTAC - the Union Technique de l'Automobile, du motocycle et du Cycle.

Fitted with a stop/start system to aid economy, the new 208 has an official fuel figure of 94.2mpg and low CO2 emissions of 79g/km - a new benchmark for a standard production model powered by an internal combustion engine.

In the record run the five speed manual car was driven by a team of drivers each doing stints of between three and four hours and it took 38 hours to complete the long distance economy test.