THE pioneering London Borough of Sutton has added four Citroen Berlingo Electrique electric-powered vans to its increasingly environmentally-friendly fleet. The vans will be used for meals on wheels deliveries, which the council describes as an ideal application for electric vehicles where mileage is regular and predictable.

They join five Peugeot 106 electric cars delivered to the council in June last year, when at the same time the local authority launched the UK's first public charging station for electric-powered cars. Sutton runs 47 low or nil emission vehicles, including electric and compressed natural gas powered vehicles on its 130-strong fleet. The council is the lead member of the UK arm of Zeus (zero and low emission vehicles in urban society) a pan-European consortium which aims to make less polluting transport a practical reality in cities.