A KNUTSFORD councillor has called on borough chiefs to take the lead in the switch to electric vehicles.

At a scrutiny meeting where plans to cut emissions across the borough were discussed on Monday, cross-party members called on Cheshire East Council to do more to help residents ditch petrol and diesel.

Cllr Tony Dean, Conservative member for Knutsford, called on CEC to set the right example and consider ditching diesel vehicles in its own fleet.

He said: “If you look at this issue in the round, air quality used to be a lot – especially in the big northern towns – about industry.

“We haven’t got industry any more, so air quality now – especially in Cheshire East – is all about transport.

“We could actually take the lead at CEC because the first electric waste collection trucks are now on the stocks. It may be that we could actually take the lead and show some leadership.

“It’s that sort of thing that we could be a little bit more positive about the move to electric vehicles and set the standard for air quality.”

Frank Jordan, acting deputy chief executive of CEC, left the door open for Cllr Dean’s suggestion.

“As a local authority we commission our services with a number of contractors,” he said.

“It is certainly something we can pick up with our contractors to see if there is anything we can do to look into a particular type of vehicle, so we can have low-emission vehicles on the road.”

Cllr Nick Mannion, Labour member for Macclesfield West and Ivy, also called for more public-use charging points to be available for drivers of electric cars.

“I’m disappointed because we do need to be raising our game on this," he said.

Suggestions made by the environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee on Monday are due to be considered by CEC’s cabinet when it looks into the draft air quality action plan.