New bin lorries costing £3 million ordered by York council

The lorries have cost £3 million in total - and two of them are fully electric vehicles.

The other 10 lorries meet Euro 6 lower emissions standards - and are expected to reduce fuel costs and pollution output by about 16 per cent.

A City of York Council report says the new lorries will start to be delivered early next year.

They will replace five hire vehicles - that are currently leased to the council at a cost of £895 per lorry per week.

The council's fleet of vehicles is set to be upgraded - as part of a bid to make York carbon neutral by 2030.

Plans approved in March will see the council replace its fleet with green or electric vehicles in phases during the next four years,

Bin lorries are the first to be approved - and in August the authority is expected to order a further 12 vehicles, including smaller trucks for narrow streets.

The council has approved funding of £6.6m for the replacement of 28 waste vehicles.

A report says: "The overwhelming focus of this first phase is to address the risks posed by the worst of the age expired fleet, and improve reliability of the fleet of waste vehicles.

"The purchase of 10 Euro VI 26T rear steer narrow chassis with single cell compartment and electric bin lift which reduces the fuel costs and emissions by approximately 16% - estimated purchase price of £200k per unit, estimated total £2m.

"The purchase of two fully electric 26T rear steer narrow chassis with single cell and split or commercial bin lift - estimated purchase price of £500k per unit, estimated total £1m."

The council aims to reduce CO2 emissions by a third from its fleet of vehicles.

The authority's vehicles are currently valued at £15.3m and 153 of them are currently due to be replace during the next three years.

The entire fleet emits a total of 1,763 tonnes of CO2 each year.

York launched the first voluntary clean air zone in the UK for buses in January as part of climate emergency plans.