The first fully electric bus routes in central London will be rolled out by the end of the year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced 51 electric buses will operate two routes in the capital in a bid to improve air quality.

They will be part of routes 507 and 521, joining the 22 buses that are already running in Croydon and taking the city’s entire fleet of electric buses up to 73 – the largest in Europe, according to the Mayor’s office.

The electric single-deck buses will scrap Nitrogen Oxide emissions and reduce CO2 by 40%.

The announcement is the first step towards making all 300 of central London’s single decker buses zero emission by 2020 and all 3,100 double decker buses hybrid by 2019.

Mr Khan said: “It’s vital that we act now to clean up our capital’s toxic air and do everything we can to help prevent the thousands of deaths it causes each year. I’ve set out a comprehensive plan to improve our air and the transformation of London’s bus fleet will play a key role in making our transport cleaner and heathier.

“These first two electric bus routes right through the heart of London are another step towards the end of conventional diesel buses on our roads.  This will deliver extensive air quality benefits and position us as a true world leader in adopting ultra low emission vehicle technology.”