ELECTRIC cars are now being used by the county council to deliver school meals, in a bid to cut down their carbon footprint.

Hampshire County Council have got four new electric vehicles to join their catering fleet to deliver school meals eco-friendly.

HCC’s Catering Service, HC3S, has taken on two electric cars and two electric vans, replacing older diesel vehicles that had reached the end of their lease.

The cars will be used for administrative work, while the vans will deliver 6,000 meals per week to schools that do not have their own kitchens.

Leader of HCC, Councillor Keith Mans, said: “We aim to replace County Council vehicles with electric vehicles whenever possible.

"Electric vehicles save 9p on fuel costs for every mile driven, and have no emissions, which is why they form part of our overall strategy to reduce the County Council’s impact on the planet.

“It’s especially fitting to see our catering service, HC3S, beginning to use electric vehicles.

"After many years of championing local food suppliers, HC3S has already shown great commitment to minimising the carbon emissions of school meals. The natural next step is to introduce electric vehicles.”

The colourful HC3S livery on the vans, designed to make them instantly recognisable to their customers when they arrive at the school gate, is also a step forward in sustainability, being made from a new biodegradable wrap material.

Cllr Mans added: “For many years we have been supporting our staff to make fewer journeys, by providing the technology to work remotely and using more teleconferencing.

"Where journeys are unavoidable, our aim is to minimise the impact. This means using vehicles economically, and only replacing them when necessary – after all, producing new cars has a carbon footprint too.

"For this reason, the number of electric vehicles in the fleet is slowly growing, but in a gradual and sustainable way."

The new vehicles are part of HCC’s growing electric fleet which now includes 29 Nissan leaf vehicles and 9 Nissan e-NV200 vans.