THE Environmental Transport Association is reporting a phenomenal increase in companies looking for information on how to run a 'green' fleet. The news comes as the ETA announces the winners of its first awards for the most environmentally friendly cars, entitled the Green Apple Awards.

A spokeswoman said: 'Manufacturers are being attacked unfairly at the moment for being environmentally unfriendly, whereas they are in fact doing a huge amount to clean up their vehicles. We wanted to recognise this.' The level of attention being given to green issues is having a marked impact on companies' willingness to take these into account when making vehicle choices.

'A lot of companies are asking us for information about liquefied petroleum gas refuelling sites and local authorities constantly ring us up saying they are setting up green transport plans and wanting our help,' the spokeswoman said. She also claimed more companies were leaving the AA and RAC to join ETA, which offers 'ethical' recovery and insurance services to motorists who want to be environmentally responsible.