Leeds council's free electric bike trial to cut emissions

Leeds City Council hopes its scheme will cut pollution and "promote sustainable travel"

People living in Leeds are being offered the free use of an electric bike on a fortnight trial.

Commuters have to pay a £200 refundable deposit to take part and are able to charge the bikes at home or workplace.

Leeds City Council, which is running the scheme with a fleet of 15 e-bikes, said it received more than a hundred applications since it opened on Monday.

It follows a similar trial launched in January aimed at reducing vehicle emissions and improving air quality.

The fleet includes five folding bikes, and the initiative "has been so popular that applicants are now being added onto a waiting list", a spokesman for the authority says.

Last year, environmental group Friends of the Earth claimed a street in the city centre was the most polluted outside London.

In January the council launched an initiative offering free use of electric vehicles to businesses and charities in the city

Leeds City Council was due to introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), meaning owners of heavy polluting lorries, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles would be charged for entering parts of Leeds. But last month officials suspended the project due to funding concerns.

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