BRADFORD Council is to use its first electric bin lorry as debates continue to rage over the city’s new Clean Air Zone.

The local authority has had its first zero-emissions refuse vehicle delivered after trialling one earlier in the year.

The vehicle was easier to drive and more efficient than current bin lorries, as well as being much quieter and narrower.

Dennis Eagle, a refuse truck manufacturing company, has provided Bradford Council with the eCollect electric bin lorry.

The vehicles have an overall battery life of ten years and fully charged – which costs £20 overnight – will last a day, being able to travel roughly 100 miles.

The delivery has come just as Bradford’s new Clean Air Zone went live on Monday.

There is now a daily charge for driving into the zone – which includes the city centre and parts of Shipley - for vehicles that do not meet the required emission standards.

The move has caused widespread debate but the council is demonstrating actions speak louder than words with the new bin lorry, which has a 100 per cent reduction in air quality pollutants.

It will be used in the city centre and within the Clean Air Zone initially.