A newly launched car hire scheme in Cardiff has ambitious plans to expand its fleet from 10 to 50 cars within the next 12 months.

The City Car Club, which was launched for the first time at the beginning of the month, is designed to help ease congestion within the city which will in turn help to reduce carbon emissions in Cardiff.

The scheme is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government which contributed £120,000 to help fund the new public car hire system. Earlier this year, Cardiff Council also introduced a new bike hire facility which has made 45 bicycles available for hire at different spots around the city. Both schemes are part of the wider initiative, the £30 million sustainable Travel City Project which aims to help lower congestion in cities and also reduce CO2 emissions.

Cardiff Council are reportedly in the process of earmarking different sites around the city which will become new bases for the City Car Club as additional vehicles are introduced throughout the year.

The City Car Club currently comprises of two hybrid vehicles, the Toyota Prius cars which can be powered by petrol and electric, plus eight low emissions Ford Fiesta cars. Within the first 5 days of launching the public car hire scheme, the cars were used twice each covering a collective total of 224 miles.