Dave Woods, director of XBG Fleet, said: “It will take some of the volume away from physical auction, but I think this is a good thing as when a large fleet operator offloads 100 identical vans simultaneously, they will be spread through online and physical channels.

Spreading the volume should mean we see better prices and open up stock to new buyers.”

He adds: “Our new partnership with Autorola allows us to offer stock to our buyers 24/7 and if someone wants to source a vehicle for a customer out of normal business hours or at weekends, we have got this covered.”

Autorola is also pioneering a service to vendors for vans struggling to sell at physical auction.

Vans are photographed at the auction and uploaded on to the Autorola platform, opening them up to thousands of new buyers.

Autorola’s business development manager Jon Mitchell says: “When the internet auctions were in their infancy, online was very much an alternative or last resort, but now it’s often the first choice and at the very least an integral part of an overall remarketing strategy.

"The success of internet bidding has almost become self-fulfilling – as buyers recognised an increasing amount of stock was finding its way on to the online platform, they increased their own usage which in turn has attracted high quality vehicles.

“Key to the success of the internet auction is attracting good quality stock and high calibre buyers which makes trustworthy processes and services imperative.

“Internet bidding is as much about the activity back-of-house as it is about the online product.”