GREEN-conscious Southwark Council has vowed to convert its entire 300-vehicle fleet to run on alternative fuels by April 2000 and ban conventional diesel and petrol-power from the south London borough. In a move which could force local fleets and national delivery firms to accelerate the partial switch to cleaner fuels such as natural gas and electricity, the council has become the latest UK recruit to ALTER, the Alternative Traffic in Towns initiative led by the Convention of European Cities with the aim of cleaning up atmospheric and noise pollution in urban areas.

Under ALTER - launched in Britain at Chester by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in April subscribers agree to renew their own transport on a clean or zero emissions basis; undertake to convert those of their vehicles with extended lifetimes to lower emission or cleaner fuels; and introduce and progressively extend areas of their cities to which only traffic with clean or near zero emissions would have access.

In Southwark, this would mean areas like the Elephant and Castle and London Bridge becoming no-go zones for petrol and diesel. Other towns and cities supporting the ALTER project in Britain, and with similar targets, are Bradford, Bridgend, Bristol, Cardiff, Chester, Coventry, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford and the London boroughs of Camden and Westminster. More major cities and London boroughs are expected to sign the 'Florence declaration' before the next Convention of European Cities in Florence on October 23-25.