A TEES council is now the fifth best in the country for reducing greenhouse gases which now saves the authority £250,000 a year.

Stockton Borough Council has introduced a range of measures to reduce Co2 emissions and last year rose from 54th to fifth in the Local Authority Energy Index rankings.

The council has managed to reduce its net emissions by 7.8 per cent since 2014 even though the target was only five per cent.

Schemes that have led to the improvement include introducing LED street lighting which has reduced costs by £144,000; reducing energy consumption in council buildings, introducing the council’s own renewable energy installations, improving the council’s fleet of vehicles and reducing the number of car miles travelled. A council officers’ report was considered by Stockton council’s cabinet committee on Monday and councillors agreed that officers should continue with the policy to reduce harmful Co2 emissions.

The councillors all agreed the authority should continue its programme of replacing street lighting and improving buildings.