Council will pay £3.1m for new diesel vehicles

The council said electric lorries' range would be insufficient for its rounds

A council which pushed its net zero targets back last month will spend £3.1m on 17 new diesel-powered refuse vehicles.

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) revised its deadline to become carbon neutral from 2025 to 2030 and from 2030 to 2045 for the district.

In documents published on its website it said it needed to buy the diesel vehicles because of a "restriction on the number of suitable charging points" at its depot.

The vehicles will be used in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse districts from next year and SODC will use the depot until 2026.

The council said the range available on electric 26-tonne refuse collection vehicles and clinical waste collection vehicles would be insufficient for its rounds.

It will buy 13 diesel-powered versions of the former and one of the latter.

The authority will also buy an electric-powered cage tipper, at a cost of just over £81,000. Another diesel cage tipper will set it back £42,500.

SODC’s leader David Rouane said in October that the authority had “led by example” in cutting carbon emissions.

He said: "We set targets which were really challenging back in 2019 in order to change behaviour.

"It's about the district as a whole - we're one business in the district and we're doing our bit, but what matters is what happens within the district as a whole."