MAINTAINING North Yorkshire roads is going greener after eco-friendly power supplies were installed at two council highways depots.

North Yorkshire County Council says the off-grid power units harness wind and solar power to store energy that will be used to power some lighting and charge tools overnight, ready for staff to use the next day.

The council’s highway maintenance company NYHighways installed the units in Boroughbridge and Selby, with plans to install them at other depots.

Executive member for climate change, Cllr Greg White, said: “We have set ourselves the ambitious target of becoming carbon net zero as a local authority by as near as possible to 2030. Initiatives like this are an important step towards that goal and I am delighted to see NYHighways putting sustainability at the heart of its operations.

“Across council services, we are looking at ways to reduce our carbon emissions and energy use. For example, we replaced out 50,400 street lights with LED technology, reducing carbon emissions by 3,000 tonnes, as well as making savings on energy and maintenance.”

NYHighways managing director Ross Bullerwell said: “NY Highways made the decision from its inception to move away from using power tools and equipment powered by fossil fuels, so we have switched to a range of battery powered tools. The off-grid power sources continue this transition, enabling us to harness natural energy sources to charge the batteries. This approach also decreases our reliance on on-grid electricity.”