Following a meeting with the council’s executive last Tuesday, it has been confirmed that the local authority will be ditching diesel in favour of more ‘environmentally friendly’ fuel sources for waste collection and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

According to the council, the transition to using renewable HVO fuel will support the sustainability of its 90-vehicle fleet and is estimated to reduce emissions by 25 to 30% over the next two years.

Cllr Ian Middleton, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services, said: ‘We believe that this change to HVO fuel is a pragmatic step forward in our mission to continue to create a cleaner and greener Cherwell for all. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best transitional option we have for our high duty cycle HGVs right now.’

He added: ‘I’m hopeful that in the near future other alternatives such as high capacity electric or hydrogen powered vehicles will enable us to remove harmful tailpipe emissions from our fleet completely.’

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