Force lays out £630,000 to cut emissions

But South Yorkshire Police is expecting that by 2014 the savings it makes will outstrip the cost of the work involved, with a projected total saving of £2.59m by that time.

In the current year, it its anticipated the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from its buildings and vehicles will have been reduced by 1,900 tonnes and that by 2014 it will have achieved 83 per cent of its target figure.

Work includes relatively simple steps such as replacing light bulbs with low energy alternatives, along with more significant changes such as upgrading boilers at police buildings and improving heating controls. It is a five- year plan and gains in the first 12 months were modest because the work was in its start-up phase.