MANCHESTER'S free city centre buses and trams have been praised - by people living in the Netherlands.

The city provides a free Metroshuttle bus service and allows people travelling to Manchester by train to hop on a Metrolink tram for free if their ticket says 'Manchester Ctlz' as the destination.

And both schemes were hailed as the most environmentally-friendly transport policies in the world, according to Dutch newspaper readers.

It left other European cities, such at Stuttgart, Rome and Oslo, lagging behind in the poll.

Nearly four million journeys have been made by passengers using the free Metroshuttle buses in Manchester city centre since they began operating in 2002.