Surrey County Council is set to cut its carbon footprint and reduce energy bills by signing up to a national green initiative.

The council has joined phase six of the Carbon Trust's Local Authorities Carbon Management (LACM) programme.

Surrey is one of 74 local authorities from across England, Scotland and Wales to participate in the latest phase of the programme, which will see participants collectively cut their carbon footprints by 518,000 tonnes and energy costs by £50 million per year.

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The Carbon Trust is now working with 215 of the UK's 468 local authorities to assess the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and develop a robust strategy to drastically reduce their carbon footprints over a five to ten year period.

Through the previous five years of the LACM programme, the Carbon Trust has worked with 141 local authorities, identifying annual savings of more than £70 million and 861,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide across all sites involved. Many of the new participants can expect to reduce their energy bills by up to 20%.

(CD/JM)