The first of a new fleet of 15 electric vans has arrived at Bury Council to help cut the borough’s carbon emissions.

The new vehicles are part of a £10m plan to renew the local authority’s fleet, bringing greener and more efficient vehicles to the council’s operational services department.

The council is also looking at a low carbon fuel source for its other vehicles.

The local authority has also appointed electric vehicle (EV) charging network Be EV to install more than 30 new EV charging points across their land.

The new infrastructure will be part of the Be EV public charging network, the largest across the North West.

The council said most of the chargers will be rapid or ultra-rapid, which can charge a typical EV to 80 per cent in 20 minutes to an hour, compared to four to six hours on a 7kW fast charger.

Bosses say the chargers will be placed in convenient and easily accessible destination areas such as town centre car parks

Bosses say the chargers will be placed in 'convenient and easily accessible destination areas such as town centre car parks'

The new points will be primarily in convenient destination areas such as town centre car parks.

The new vans are estimated to cut 1,450kg of CO2 per vehicle per year or 21.75 tonnes per year once all the vehicles are in service.

Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations at the council, said: “We’re making major investment in our fleet which will replace unreliable ageing vehicles and provide a better service to residents.

“We’re committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2038.

"As transport emissions make up a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, we need to make the transition to cleaner transport, and electric vehicles will play an important part in that.”

By allowing use of council owned land for Be.EV to expand their public charging network the council will get rental income from the charge points.

Be.EV is Transport for Greater Manchester’s preferred charging partner.

Cllr Quinn added: “To help residents who want to make this switch, we need to increase the charging infrastructure so they feel confident they can recharge their vehicles easily.

"This is a concessionary contract, so all up-front installation and operating costs are being undertaken by Be.EV, and we will also receive a rental income.

“We will be working to get the chargers in the ground as soon as possible, certainly later this year.”

Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV, said: “We’re excited to be further expanding our charging network within Bury.

"Bury Council is playing a vital role in supporting the early uptake of EVs in their borough by scaling the charging network to make electric cars accessible for all.

“The new deal will help us further expand our reliable network of EV chargers to Bury residents, and we want other councils to sit up and take notice of this development.”