FORD has signed a multi-million pound pan-European fleet van deal with vehicle glass repair specialist Autoglass.

The manufacturer will supply 1,800 Transit Connects to the company over three years. They will be used in 17 European countries, with about 800 in the UK.

The vehicles supplied to Belron, the owner of Autoglass in the UK and Carglass across Europe, will all be diesel-engined and will be a mix of long wheelbase high roof and short wheelbase low roof.

Paul Morel, commercial vehicle director for Ford of Europe, said: 'Ford has enjoyed a long relationship with Belron over many years and we are sure they will find the durability, versatility, storage space and security features of Transit Connect an ideal asset to their business.'

Belron vehicle manager Ged Raymond said: 'The Transit Connect is the perfect operating platform for delivering a mobile service to our global customers. Following extensive evaluation we have adopted the Transit Connect as the new backbone vehicle of our service.'