TAXPAYERS have spent £5,000 on teaching council staff how to drive more efficiently, we can reveal today.

Oxford City Council paid 'green' driving instructors DriveSense the four figure sum to train 333 staff members how to reduce their fuel bills by making changes to the way they drive.

Council workers from all departments underwent 50 minutes of one-to-one tuition from an advanced driving training instructor about accelerating and braking techniques.

The training is being given to people who drive council vehicles as part of their jobs and staff who use their own cars on council business and make mileage claims.

The council claimed the move would help its drivers achieve a 15 per cent increase in miles per gallon of petrol – reducing its annual fuel bill by an estimated £69,000 and cutting its carbon footprint by two per cent.

John Tanner, the council's executive member for a cleaner, greener Oxford, said: "Some of our drivers, like the street cleansing team, can clock up more than 450 miles a week".

"This training shows the drivers that if they alter the way they drive we can reduce our carbon emissions and save money."

The lessons began on March 9, and continue until Friday.

Each lesson costs £30, but the Energy Saving Trust has paid for half of the £10,000 total bill.

Council workers have been asked to drive in a specially-modified car which records fuel efficiency during the lessons.

They were given advice on how to improve observation and anticipation as well as cutting fuel by turning off the engine when stuck in traffic, changing up the gears earlier and removing excess weight from the vehicle.

Each worker was asked to drive around Oxford in their normal style before receiving the advice, and then complete the same circuit at the end of the lesson.

Lee Wood, the technical support coordinator at the council's transport department, said he had averaged 52 miles per gallon of petrol when he was taken out on his first drive around Cowley and Blackbird Leys.

But after receiving tuition from DriveSense he averaged 63 miles per gallon.

Mr Wood said: "It was definitely an eye-opener.

"I was quite shocked, because I considered myself quite a good driver anyway and quite efficient.

"Changing gear earlier takes a bit of getting used to but you feel the car doesn't struggle as much."

A spokesman for the Energy Saving Trust said that in the past five months, 10 other local authorities across the country had paid for similar driving schemes for their staff.

For more information about ways to save fuel on the road and other energy-saving ideas for the home from the trust's experts, see energysavingtrust.org.uk/