HUNDREDS more vans have flooded West Somerset’s roads in recent years, as campaigners warn of the environmental impact of online shopping.

Retailers have been urged to reduce the number of diesel vans they use to make deliveries and make more effort to switch their fleets of vehicles to cleaner sources of fuel.

Since 2012, 413 more vans have been registered in West Somerset – nearly all of them powered by diesel.

In total, 3,367 vans are registered in the area, an increase of more than ten per cent.

The increase in vans has vastly outpaced the growth in the number of cars in West Somerset since 2012, as people increasingly shop from the comfort of their sofas. There are seven per cent more cars on the road.