A council has won funding for 27 electric buses - but none of them will be in our area of Hertfordshire.

Hertfordshire County Council secured £5.6 million from the Government to help pay for them, but as part of the deal, all of the buses will operate in Stevenage only once ready.

The council says bids have to be focussed on a specific location and after approaching a number of private sector operators, which is also a requirement, Arriva in Stevenage was chosen.

The Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats welcomed the funding but Cllr Steve Jarvis said the council could have been more "ambitious" with Hertfordshire receiving the second lowest amount of the 12 successful bids.

In total, the Government has allocated just under £200 million to fund 943 electric buses in 12 areas of England.

The funding comes from the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme, which was launched last year to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding to purchase zero emission buses.

The move is expected to remove over 57,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the country’s air, as well as 22 tonnes of nitrogen oxides on average each year.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "Not only will this improve the experience of passengers, but it will help support our mission to fund 4,000 of these cleaner buses, reach net zero emissions by 2050 and build back greener."

A "delighted" Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson added: "We look forward to working with our colleagues at Stevenage Brough Council and Arriva in delivering this project, which supports our overall climate ambitions of delivering a cleaner, greener county."

The single-decker electric buses could be in operation in Stevenage in around 18 months time.