IT could be the beginning of the end for dirty diesel lorries at one Bicester firm as it makes a move towards electric technology.

Fruit and vegetable firm Fresh Direct, which has its head office in the town and supplies pubs and restaurants in Oxfordshire and around the UK, has added an electric van to its fleet.

The firm is using the van to make deliveries in the county. The batteries give it a range of up to 100 miles, it costs less than 5p a mile to operate and can be recharged in eight hours.

The company operates about 200 vehicles from five depots and delivers more than 500 tonnes of food a day.

Each week its vehicles make more than 10,000 deliveries, covering more than 300,000 miles.

Nick Allen, the firm’s head of business improvement, said: “If the motor industry can get the technology right, electric vehicles are the future.”

The van is one of a number of measures to cut the firm’s carbon footprint, including extra driver training, to help cut fuel consumption, and computerised route planning to draw up the shortest and most efficient delivery rounds.

Mr Allen added: “There’s not one thing or one action that will cure all our transport issues overnight and make us a greener company.

“Instead we have looked at a menu of activities to provide more effective transport services and reduce the impact on the environment.”