Residents will get the opportunity to help save the environment after UK’s first electric vehicle car club was launched in the borough.

Tower Hamlets borough council and housing association Poplar HARCA have joined in partnership with electric car club E-Car to provide businesses and people in the community with the new and affordable low carbon Renault Zoe to drive.

The unveiling of the car took place on Wednesday, October 23 at the Idea Store, in East India Dock Road and was attended by guests such as Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick and electric vehicle enthusiast and Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn.

E-Car’s pay-per-use club membership will make electric vehicles available to the local community with 24 hour access to the cars, and no need to pay for tax, insurance, congestion charge, maintenance or fuel.

The cars are able to go for up to 70 miles and once the journey is complete, the car can be returned to a designated parking space where it can be charged for use again.

Mr Fitzpatrick said : “Access to electric cars at affordable rates will be a fantastic addition to the transport infrastructure of the area.

“We need to find ways for people to get around without further contributing to the already high levels of pollution on the A13 and this is a great option.”

Baroness Susan Kramer, Transport Minister, said: “E-Car Club is a scheme that kills three birds with one stone - congestion, cost and carbon.”

The launch in Tower Hamlets follows the success of clubs in Milton Keynes and Luton and the scheme is set to start in Oxford and Hatfield.

Paul Augarde, HARCA’s head of creativity and innovation, added: “The area of Poplar, east London is emerging as a place where sustainability is embedded in an empowered community, helping to drive a regeneration which confidently delivers for all.

“This first phase of the E-Car Club in Poplar embodies that and we very much look forward to its rapid expansion.”

For more information, visit http://www.e-carclub.org.