Dyfed Powys Police is stepping up a gear in its aim to reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging police officers and staff to consider the choices available about the way they travel to work.

The force has already developed a Force Environmental Policy and established a Sustainability and Environmental Working Group as part of their commitment to this issue.

The force has recently introduced travel champions whose role will be to raise awareness of the alternative modes of transport to single occupancy car journeys.

The champions have recently attended a training course called 'Smart Travel Training' which was provided by the South West Wales Integrated Travel Consortium (SWWITCH). The force is a member of the SWWITCH travel plan network, and the first organisation to receive the 'All Wales' training.

The training is designed to provide champions with the tools and skills to act as a key point of contact within the organisation and to be able to provide sustainable transport information to other staff members. The outcome of which is that staff are able to make informed choices about the way they travel to work.

Environmental officer Steve Bergiers said: "The force is committed to reducing its environmental impact and has already introduced a number of initiatives towards achieving this. They include enhanced use of recycling and the introduction of a number of 'green' computing initiatives such as video conferencing and the automatic switch-off of certain computers after prolonged periods of non-use.

"There is no room for complacency and we are keen to build on the initiatives introduced to date to further increase our capacity to reduce our carbon footprint.

"A staff travel plan has been developed following a travel survey and the training provided today will enable us to progress the plan further."

SWWITCH Travel Plan coordinator, Jayne Cornelius said: "We are thrilled to be working with Dyfed Powys Police, the first force in Wales to receive a silver level award for their travel plan to encourage sustainable travel. The Smart Travel Training was very well received and will play an integral part in supporting the force's environmental policy. We look forward to continuing to work with Dyfed Powys Police."