The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is contract hired through Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, has been delivered to the organisation's office in Brampton for staff to drive whilst they go about their normal work.

John Orr, environment manager for The Environment Agency, said: 'This is a really exciting development and I am thrilled that the Environment Agency’s first electric vehicle should be coming to Brampton. I am really keen to explore the potential of the vehicle and to get comments from our staff about what they think of it once they’ve used it in their normal work.'

Mark Ford-Powell of Environment Agency fleet operations added: 'Over recent years we have seen technology in cars improve resulting in many low CO2 cars on the road and on our fleet. The introduction of an electric car to our fleet will provide us with further CO2 savings and the opportunity for us to measure the long-term suitability of operating an electric car.'