Autogas has welcomed Government plans to introduce Clean Air Zones in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton.

Designed to help improve air quality and bring the UK into line with EU NOx targets, the proposals will not affect private car owners, but instead will target the most polluting vehicles such as old buses, taxis, coaches and lorries.

As part of the announcement, the Government referenced the positive work that is already ongoing in Birmingham through the development of a repowered taxi fleet that will run on cleaner LPG.

“We’re extremely encouraged by these latest plans to help clean up air quality in the UK’s most affected towns and cities,” said Linda Gomersall, general manager at Autogas.

“We have already made significant progress with Birmingham in helping the city replace its taxi fleet with a cleaner LPG solution.

"The creation of the Clean Air Zones and the ongoing focus of vehicles such as taxi cabs means that we are confident that many other towns and cities will now look towards pioneering cities such as Birmingham and see how they too can introduce a cleaner LPG powered alternative that can make an immediate positive impact.”

Last week Autogas presented its LPG-powered TX4 black cab on the Parliamentary estate.

The vehicle has just completed a series of tests which show it produces lower levels of NOx emissions compared with a normal diesel powered version.