Wholesale fish supplier New Wave Seafood has ordered 11 new Mercedes-Benz vans.

The Gloucestershire company acquired the six Sprinter 314 CDIs and five Vito 114 CDIs with funding support from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.

They will be maintained by Rygor under Service Care Plans paid for on a monthly basis. They also have MobiloVan emergency roadside assistance and are covered by three-year, unlimited mileage warranties, although the operator has extended these to five years.

The new fleet of vans are all named after types of fish. Among the titles worn by individual vehicles are John Dory, Red Mullet, Sea Bass, and Wild Salmon.

The vehicles are powered by 140hp versions of the 2.1-litre Euro 6 engine. The Sprinters are a combination of medium and long variants, while the Vito vans are long models.

Marcus Cooper, account manager at New Wave Seafood, said: "We’ve operated vehicles by a variety of manufacturers over the years and found that nothing comes close to a Mercedes-Benz for reliability over a long, hard life.

"Our vans typically cover up to 50,000 miles per year, so the fact that the warranty has no mileage limit is very important.”

The new vehicles were insulated by Polar Truck & Van, of Westbury, Wiltshire, which also fitted their GAH refrigeration units. The cost of the refrigerated conversion means the vehicles will have a working life of four to five years.

New Wave Seafood’s fleet of 28 vans deliver six days per week to hotels, restaurants and catering outlets, as well as making collections from Cornish fish markets and food producers.