GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council's 119 diesel-powered vehicle fleet could move towards less polluting technologies.

A request made at last week's Environment and Communities Scrutiny Committee could see a change to 96 per cent of the council-owned fleet, not including specialist vehicles like fire engines.

Deputy group leader and chair of the health and care scrutiny committee, Cllr Iain Dobie presented the case for the gradual replacement of existing diesel operated with electric vehicles.

At the meeting, he said: “Diesel air pollution is now a front page issue.

“We do not know yet the true extent of damage caused by diesel emissions in Gloucestershire, but this Council needs to take the necessary albeit small steps to reduce its own ‘carbon footprint’.

“Gloucestershire Constabulary are putting their money where their mouth is and have recently purchased eight electric vehicles.

"This Council should be doing the same and seriously consider moving its transport fleet away from diesel towards less polluting technologies.

“If it is good enough for the police then it should be good enough for this Council.”

In a poll taken on the Gloucestershire Echo website last Tuesday, 52 per cent of readers believed electric cars were the future of driving, but the cost of electric cars were an issue.

Cllr Dobie continued: “The latest figures reveal there are over 70,000 electric vehicles registered in the country and with the installation of two new energy stations in Cheltenham we are seeing more places for drivers to charge their vehicles.

“The costs of electric vehicles have gone down and one hopes as demand increases we’ll see a further fall in the price of such vehicles.

“At February’s Council budget meeting, the Liberal Democrat’s successfully secured free residents’ parking permits for all Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) Band A electric vehicles.

"I hope that such green initiatives may encourage an uptake in electric car ownership, but first this Council needs to set an example and look at its own fleet of air polluting diesel powered vehicles.”

Leader of the County group, Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, said: “This is a great opportunity for the council's administration to show leadership in Gloucestershire by going green.

“Back in February, we successfully lobbied for extra cash to go to combat air pollution.

"The Council's budget now includes money to monitor this invisible killer. It's a type of pollution which has to be addressed in order to save lives and improve health for those who are impacted by it.”