Portsmouth City Council welcomes funding for 34 electric buses

Electric buses are already a common sight in other parts of the country, such as in London

Funding for 34 new electric buses has been welcomed as a "significant milestone" by a council.

The government awarded £6.5m to purchase the vehicles to serve routes across Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham.

It is part of the national £200m Bus Service Improvement Plan that aims to make public transport more sustainable.

Portsmouth City Council said the scheme would "transform" the area's bus services, and help it to achieve its pledge of becoming net carbon zero.

The funding will also cover the cost of installing new charging and fuelling infrastructure, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The announcement about the new electric buses comes after Portsmouth introduced a clean air zone in November.