Hundreds of thousands of English businesses could be wasting £1 billion per year due to misconceptions about how to reduce fuel costs.

That’s according to the Energy Saving Trust which has launched a programme to help businesses make financial and environmental savings by managing their fleets.

Called Fleet Service Review, the scheme which is funded by the Department for Transport, aims to drive change in the way businesses think about their transport options.

It offers small and medium enterprises interested in reducing their fuel costs and carbon footprint a “Green Fleet Review” which is designed for those operating a fleet of between 20 and 100 cars.

It provides impartial advice on best practice vehicle management and driver training as well as a whole-life cost analysis for alternative fuel vehicles such as plug-in hybrids.

Andrew Benfield, Director of Transport at the Energy Saving Trust said: “Nearly half a million English companies manage their own fleets – but there is a widespread misunderstanding of how much costs can be reduced just by making a few small changes.

“There are 480,000 English SMEs responsible for 2.4million vehicles on our roads – a small difference here can make huge difference to the environment, but perhaps more importantly for business owners, to the amount spent on fuelling the country’s businesses.”