THREE new electric buses will be introduced in Salisbury next week, as part of a bid to make public transport more sustainable.

Costing £1.12million, the trio will be joining Salisbury Reds' fleet, with their first outing on Thursday.

Around £654,000 of the cash was brought in from the government’s Low Emission Bus Scheme, with the bus company spending £543,000 from its own purse. Wiltshire Council also contributed £50,000.

Speaking about the investment last year, Salisbury Reds managing director, Andrew Wickham said it was a "momentous occasion, not only for Salisbury Reds, but for sustainable transport in the region”.

He added: “This is no mean feat and is the result of considerable effort from our team as well as from partners at Wiltshire Council and at the Department for Transport.

"Introducing electric buses requires an infrastructure designed to ensure they are primed and ready to provide frequent services across our park and ride routes here in Salisbury and state of the art electric charging will be installed at our depot in the city.

"I’m delighted that Salisbury Reds is one of the first operators in the south of England to introduce these exciting new buses – they will primarily be used on Park & Ride services in the city but will also be used on other routes in the Salisbury area.”