Transport Minister Baroness Kramer has announced the successful bidders for the £5 million Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF).

The funding will make over 1,000 local authority vehicles more environmentally friendly.

Seventeen local authorities have been awarded grants for a variety of cutting-edge, pollution reducing technologies which will be fitted to 1080 vehicles.

In addition, the Department for Transport also announced the allocation of an additional £50,000 of funding to help local authorities monitor the results of their clean technology projects.

Baroness Kramer said: “The £5 million Clean Vehicle Technology Fund means councils can now lead the way on introducing greener vehicles on their local streets. We received imaginative applications from local authorities from across England for vehicles including buses, taxis, vans, fire engines and ambulances. All the schemes will lower emissions in busy towns and cities.

“The funding we are providing will result in real public health benefits while supporting skilled jobs and economic growth in the environmental technologies industries.”

The scheme had previously only been open to buses, but has been opened out to include other vehicles, such as fire engines, ambulances and taxis.

This year only one authority received funding for a fire engine. The Greater London Authority successfully bid for £500,000 to fit pollution reducing technology to 400 buses and one trial system to a Fire Service pumping appliance.

Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.