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The º£½ÇÊÓƵ's fastest growing taxi and private hire operator has invested more than £1m on a fleet of hybrid cars to reduce its carbon footprint.

Veezu Group, which is headquartered in Langstone Business Village in Newport, has added 60 Toyota Corolla Touring self-charging hybrid electric vehicles to its fleet in a £1.75m investment.

A further 30 low-emission cars are expected to be added later this year.

The new vehicles will be deployed across Veezu's five regional brands in Wales and England, including Dragon Taxis in Newport and Cardiff, V Cars in the South West of England, Amber Cars in Leeds, and A2B Radio Cars and Go Carz in the West Midlands and Shropshire.

The older cars in Veezu's fleet will be taken out of service as the new vehicles arrive.

The company made the investment to meet the minimum emission standards set in its operating areas of Bath and Birmingham which have Clean Air Zones, with Bristol set to be added later this year.

It has invested more than £3.25 million in low emissions cars in the last three years as part of its business plan to reduce its emissions.

Gavin Morris, lead director of Veezu's drive division, said: "This is an essential investment for us as a company but one we feel very passionately about. Throughout the areas we are deploying the new fleet to, there are a number of Clean Air Zones, and we are proud to be doing our bit to help these locations meet their air quality targets."

He added: "We are always looking at improving our carbon footprint as part of our wider environmental social governance strategy. This significant £1.75m investment will contribute towards that. Low emission vehicles play an important part in the private hire industry, and we’re proud to be leading the way.”