A NEW van hire service launched between easyGroup and Northgate has landed Mercedes-Benz with a £1 million deal.

Northgate has chosen a fleet of Vito vans for its new venture with Stelios Haji-Ioannou, called easyVan.com.

Northgate began van rental from its 88 UK locations via easyCar.com a year ago. Bosses say the success of a pilot scheme led to the creation of easyVan.com.

The 80 liveried Vitos join the fleet of vehicles to which easyVan customers will have access across Northgate’s network of locations.

The rental company is the biggest customer for Merc-edes-Benz light commercial vehicles in the UK and will this year take delivery of 5,000 new Sprinters – giving the manufacturer its largest single European order.