Gloucester Cathedral has purchased its first all-electric utility truck for its grounds keeping and facilities maintenance team, as part of a drive to reduce its carbon footprint and improve sustainability.

The Friends of Gloucester Cathedral has funded the investment in an Alke ATX200E truck from ePower Trucks, the UK’s leading supplier of low-cost, road-legal electric vehicles. Fully battery-powered, the ATX200E is a lightweight, compact utility vehicle with a 530kg payload and can tow up to 2,000kg.

The ePower Trucks vehicle replaces a hand-cranked, Lister diesel truck that has been in use at the Cathedral since 1964. It is believed to be the only truck of its type still in daily use.