Demand for mobile servicing has surged in the past year resulting in an estimated £1.1 million saving for UK businesses, according to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Its figures show almost three-quarters of van drivers (71%) find the offer of a mobile servicing unit attractive as time off road cost businesses up to £500 per day per van.

David Hanna, head of service and parts at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “Our message is clear - we’ll work when you’re not - to minimise downtime and reduce associated costs, which is consistently one of the biggest issues for our customers.

“We’re committed to working as a trusted partner alongside our customers to deliver an aftersales service that suits their needs in the short and long term. Innovative solutions like our Mobile Service Clinics help deliver on our Working With You promise and it’s clear from these figures what a useful option it is for our owners and fleets.”

Some 21 Volkswagen Van Centres now offer Mobile Service Clinics, and technicians carried out almost 10,000 jobs at more than 4,000 different locations last year, saving fleets a combined 10 years of vehicle downtime.

Van Centres are able to dispatch a specially converted Volkswagen Crafter, kitted out with an array of on-board tools including compressed air jacks and even a hand wash basin, to the home, workplace or fleet base. Technicians operating the Mobile Service Clinics are able to carry out service work, inspections, A/C servicing, MOT repairs, minor warranty work and software updates remotely, while the vehicles are not being used.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles launched the Mobile Service Clinics in December 2016 with just three vans. Now, with 21 Van Centres on the books, sites are expanding to run multiple vans to keep up with demand.

Downtime is a major issue for fleet operators, with vehicle-off-road time costing UK businesses more than £2.4bn per year.