Rutland County Council has approved spending of up to £2.069 million pounds for a new fleet of waste and cleansing vehicles.

Explaining the need for the vehicles, Coun Christine Wise (Lib Dem), said: "There is a life expectancy for these vehicles of seven years, and all of ours have been going a lot longer.

"It is imperative that our vehicles are replaced in My 2024, and unfortunately, because of their age, it is the majority of the fleet that will need replacing.

"As you would expect, with my environmental hat on, I have questioned why we would be investing in diesel trucks; but with vehicles this size trying to make the fleet greener would need a number of infrastructure considerations costed and put in place before we could do that.

"It is proposed that as soon as we purchase these vehicles, we prepare for the next time this happens in 2031."

Members of Rutland County Council full council approved the spending by majority vote in private session.

18 Councillors were for the spend, 11 against and there was 1 abstention.