Broken down bus causing traffic gridlock in Leeds city centre

The First Bus electric vehicle has broken down on Kirkgate at the junction with Harper Street.

The Connecting Leeds Twitter account said the road was still blocked at 9.45am.

In October last year, First introduced nine zero-emission vehicles across the city - the first all-electric buses anywhere in West Yorkshire.

A total of £7.3 million was spent on the scheme - with help from Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the government - in a bid to make buses more environmentally friendly.

Each Yutong E10 can carry 70 passengers (currently restricted due to social distancing) and has a range of 200 miles from one overnight charge, which means they can operate on the network all day without recharging.

Smart battery technology on-board also enables the bus to store energy generated when applying the brakes.

It is estimated each bus will save 45 tonnes of carbon emissions a year compared to a Euro 6 diesel-engine bus.