CLEANING and maintenance group Premier Products is planning to switch its 45-strong company fleet to Toyota Prius cars in a bid to slash 30% on running costs.

The group has taken delivery of three of the cars for its sales staff and is hoping to switch its entire fleet to hybrids.

Andrew Marquand, managing director at Premier Products, said: ‘We took the first step when we decided to make the fleet all diesel about three years ago. This time round, we decided to specify an environmentally-friendly hybrid car and, because of its load space, the Toyota Prius was the only one fit for our purpose.’

The vehicles are supplied by Masterlease on a three-year/80,000-mile contract hire cycle with maintenance.