THE council is cleaning up its act - and hitting the road to bring better quality air to Chorley.

Chorley Borough Council's fleet of vehicles is set to run on a new cleaner fuel.

Bosses are keen to introduce City Diesel to the mainly light commercials - and get rid of dirtier conventional diesel.

They feel the move will show other Chorley motorists they are leading by example.

Now the council will launch a pilot project to monitor fuel consumption and wear and tear on vehicles.

The council's operational services sub-committee, which met last night (Wednesday) was told in a report that the National Air Quality Strategy sets air quality objectives for the year 2005 and notes the important role played by traffic-related pollution.

Using City Diesel means there would be no operational changes or engine adjustments to vehicles and it can be swapped straight back to conventional diesel if required.

Therefore the council does not have to fork out to run any of its vehicles on the fuel.

But the big difference is that City Diesel has a much lower sulphur content and different composition, meaning lower particulate emissions.

The committee heard that research by the AA shows motorists are not as aware of cleaner fuels as they should be.

Council chiefs, though, also realise that cutting down on trips overall - particularly short ones - and keeping vehicles well maintained will improve air quality more than changing fuels.

Councillors were recommended to give City Diesel the green light and allow officers to monitor the development of cleaner fuels.

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