The Leicestershire authority received £573,000 from the Government’s air quality grant scheme last year.

The rest of the funding will be spent on an electric conversion kit for a diesel bin lorry, with the conversion due to finish in the autumn.

Both new vehicles will be used in the district’s air quality management areas, in which air pollutant levels are higher than the World Health Organisation advises.

The council’s portfolio holder for health, leisure, climate and economic development, Cheryl Cashmore, said: ‘The electric sweeper and the electric lorry will help us reach our ambitious target to achieve net zero from our operations by 2030 and a net zero district by 2050.’

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