The vehicles are six Ford E Transit electric panel vans, one utility vehicle, 23 Toyota Proace light commercial EVs and two kerbside sort electric recycling vehicles.

The Merseyside authority said modernising its fleet was increasing resilience and efficiency after repairs and maintenance costs for many of its older vehicles had ‘begun to spiral’.

It now has 34 EVs and one hydrogen fuel cell electric refuse collection vehicle, which the council said is the first of its kind in operation in the UK.

St Helens has also installed 25 EV charging points to aid the switch to greener vehicles.

Cabinet member for environmental services and climate change Andy Bowen said: ‘This replacement programme is supporting our services to undertake wider modernisation and provide flexibility for the future.

‘And by adopting more electric and hydrogen vehicles we continue our transition to a low carbon fleet in a managed way, taking further significant steps towards our ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2040.’

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