YOUR friendly local milkman and his electric milk float could soon be at the cutting edge of e-commerce. Express Dairies is planning to use its fleet as the vital delivery link between internet companies and their customers.

Neil Davidson, chief executive, revealed the 4,000-vehicle fleet is set to provide anything from pet food to pants along with your daily pinta as the firm announced its annual results, which saw pre-tax profits fall from £60.4 million to £52.7 million.

He said: 'Significant growth is projected through new economy shopping channels: the internet, interactive digital television and new telephone technologies. This is the core strength of our traditional delivery system, which can be adapted to meet this need.'