The Royal Mail is trialling the use of electric vans for parcel and letter deliveries, with the aim of cutting emissions.

The company is partnering with the London Electric Vehicle Company to trial its new VN5 prototype electric van, based on a London taxi cab.

Trials will be held over the next six months on delivery rounds in largely urban areas of Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bristol.

London Electric Vehicle Company is trialling the vehicle with 25 companies ahead of the official launch of its new VN5 electric van later this year.

Paul Gatti, fleet director at Royal Mail said: “We are committed to making changes to our operations that reduce our environmental impact, whilst ensuring we continue to meet customer expectations.

“Alongside the introduction of electric vans in locations across our business, this trial is part of a programme of initiatives that allow us to experiment with ways to achieve this, whilst enabling us to continue to deliver letters and parcels safely, efficiently and responsibly.”