The streets of Bristol will be that little bit cleaner and greener from today as the city has been chosen to host the UK's largest fleet of electric, zero-emission delivery vehicles.

The four 7.5-tonne trucks, part of express delivery giant TNT's fleet of green vehicles, have just been delivered to TNT's Bristol depot at the Westerleigh Business Park in Yate, where they will be charged at the end of their working day, ready for them to reach speeds of up to 50mph and travel up to 70 miles the next day.

The launch in Bristol is part of TNT's roll-out programme, enabling it to reduce its carbon footprint by an estimated 1,300 tonnes of CO² a year.

The vehicles in Bristol will form part of a £7-million 100-strong fleet of unique battery-powered trucks that will replace their diesel equivalents in 24 locations in England and Scotland over the next 18 months.

Costing just 7p per mile in electricity to run, the 7.5-tonne Newton is designed to replace diesel trucks that operate exclusively in urban areas. They take about eight hours to charge from flat.

TNT Express managing director (UK and Ireland) Tom Bell said: "We are living in times of great change and the launch of this fleet represents a critical component in what we are striving for – to make TNT the first zero emissions express and mail company."