FLEETS wanting to qualify for the Government's new Green Fleet Certification Scheme should pay careful attention to the environmental performance of the bodyshops they use. The Cleaner Vehicle Task Force's new 'green' scheme, exclusively revealed by sister publication Fleet News, has prompted bodyshop network ABS to call for body repair to be included as part of the environmental criteria alongside fuel consumption and emissions.

David Wallace, ABS managing director, said: 'There is little point in spending a massive amount of time and resources on ensuring that a vehicle produces low emissions if the two or three accidents that the average fleet car suffers during its corporate life are not dealt with in an environmentally-sensitive manner. Fleets have a responsibility to ensure that the bodyshops they use take the environment seriously.'

He said ABS would be contacting the Cleaner Vehicle Task Force to show how bodyshops could contribute to a fleet's 'green' credentials.