The council has taken delivery of 10 electric vehicles which will replace old diesel vans and emit less carbon.

The purchase of the vans are part of the council’s £8.5m vehicle replacement programme, and a further five electric vehicles will be delivered by the end of 2023.

The vehicles are being used by several departments including pest control, adult care, street lighting, libraries, highways, waste management, street cleaning, accommodations team and grounds maintenance.

The council said the vehicles will be cheaper to maintain and will reduce the council’s CO2 emissions by a minimum of 29,000kg per year.

Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations at the council, said: “We are committed to becoming carbon neutral, and this investment will be good for our environment and the air we all breathe."

In March this year, the council appointed electric vehicle (EV) charging network Be EV to install more than 30 new charging points across their land.

The new infrastructure will be part of the Be EV public charging network, the largest across the North West.

The council said most of the chargers will be rapid or ultra-rapid, which can charge a typical EV to 80 per cent in 20 minutes to an hour, compared to four to six hours on a 7kW fast charger.

The new points will be primarily in convenient destination areas such as town centre car parks.