FOR less than the price of a gallon of petrol, people living on a housing estate can now drive around in a £23,000 electric car.

Easterside, in Middlesbrough, is the first community in the UK to launch its own co-operative car club.

Residents have been handed the keys to a new Peugeot iOn, which they can rent for £3.50 an hour.

They will not have to pay extras such as road tax and insurance or be hit in the pocket at the petrol pumps by spiralling fuel costs as the automatic vehicle is recharged with electricity.

The car is the latest in a range of initiatives developed through the £400,000 Eco Easterside project.

The close-knit community was chosen as one of 22 across the country to benefit from a Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Low Carbon Communities Challenge fund grant. The pioneering scheme in Middlesbrough has seen two streets equipped with low energy lighting and 20 homes fitted with solar panels.

Residents have been given free monitors to help manage bills more effectively and powerdown devices to turn off electrical devices when not in use.

Rainwater is used to hydrate the nearby allotments, 280 properties have had their cavity walls filled with insulation and wind turbines have been installed at Easterside and St Thomas More Schools.

Karen Horne, who lives in Easterside, was thrilled with the estate’s newest money-saving scheme. She said: “I would use the electric car to give lifts to elderly neighbours.”

Community activist June Goodchild said the vehicle would give freedom to local people who did not own a car.

“It’s all about giving the ordinary person the chance to have a day at the beach, make shopping trips or keep hospital appointments for just a few pounds. It’s wonderful.”