Aspire Housing has signed a £1.3m contract for a fleet of new vehicles. The five year lease is part of a new maintenance service from Aspire Housing - Aspire Response.

The 106 fuel efficient vehicles, leased and maintained by Alphabet (GB), will be on the roads, launching the new Aspire Response brand in the summer.

Alphabet is contracted to provide a fleet management package, including the servicing and maintenance of vehicles at weekends.

The leasing provider is also committed to taking on apprentices as part of the contract and most of these roles will be in vehicle service centres in and around Staffordshire.

Wayne Hughes, managing director of Aspire Housing, said: "Our customers expect the highest possible standards of service and our new repairs and maintenance vans will help deliver that to their doorsteps.

"Each year our repairs teams travel around Staffordshire and Cheshire, attending more than 37,000 jobs, covering a multitude of property issues.

"This new fleet will help launch the service and better equip the team to deliver great service and ensure all but the most complicated of repairs are completed on first visit."

The Vauxhall vans will have more advanced engine technology to ensure greater efficiency (mpg), increased storage capacity and greatly reduced CO2 emissions, says Aspire Housing.

Clive Buhagiar, head of public sector at Alphabet, said: "We were delighted to work closely with Aspire to understand their key requirements and organisation aims to provide the best possible solutions to suit their transport and social innovation needs."