The supermarket group has trialled the battery-powered vans at its environmental store in Shrewsbury, claiming they save 21 tonnes of C02 each year.

The vans initiative won Tesco a "green oscar" at the Online Green Awards in July, for being the first company in the UK to run a fleet of environmentally friendly delivery vehicles.

According to The Retail Bulletin, the vans have the same carrying capacity as Tesco's normal home delivery vans and have a range of 100 miles before they need to be recharged.

Tesco has recently offered its online customer grocery deliveries without bags, in response to customer concerns about the number of bags used in home deliveries.

The vans are expected to be in London by the end of the year.