South Yorkshire's boys in blue pay £100,000 to go green

South Yorkshire Police bosses have given the go-ahead for 12 new Nissan e-NV200 vans to be used by the force in a drive to be more environmentally friendly.

CRIME: Gunman on the run after shooting man and woman in SheffieldThe decision to invest in the vans came after a successful trial.

POLICE: Men with knife make threats on doorstep of house in SheffieldSarah Gilding, South Yorkshire Police's head of vehicle fleet management, said: "The Energy Saving Trust delivered five vehicles to us on behalf of Highways England, which has been trialling them as part of a project to reduce emissions.

"After taking delivery of the vehicles last September, it quickly became apparent that the electric fleet was going to bring considerable benefits to the force.

"The e-NV200 is quiet and efficient with no tailpipe emissions, my colleagues have enjoyed using them, and just as importantly the vans have delivered considerable fuel savings."

She added: "With just the electricity cost to meet, but no fuel bills and reduced maintenance costs to pay, it makes sound financial sense. Our new electric additions are good for our limited resources and the environment too."

The force has 16 charging points for electric vehicles.

"The project is helping us to understand the barriers to using electric vans on our network, and to see if there are ways of helping others like SYP to switch across to electric vans."

The new vans will save the force around £9,900 and 24,719kg of carbon dioxide emissions per vehicle over four years - a total saving of £118,800 and 296,626 kg of carbon dioxide.