Surrey County Council has committed a total of £49 million towards an ambition to have all buses operating in the county with zero or at least ultra-low emissions within 10 years.

A scheme approved by its cabinet today (Tuesday) will see between 70 and 80 buses replaced with less polluting ones as soon as 2025.

Since almost half (46%) of all Surrey's carbon emissions are transport-related, this is a significant step towards the council's aim to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050.

Councillor Matt Furniss, cabinet member for highways, said the scheme would get the more polluting buses off Surrey's roads.

He told cabinet: "We do believe this is the first occasion that such a scheme of such magnitude will be introduced in one area of the UK.

"We've been working closely with our partners on this and they are extremely excited about the opportunity to deliver such large-scale change."

The new buses could be electric, micro-hybrid, or powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Bus operators will be able to bid for £32.3 million of funding. The council will give preference to bids for bus routes running through any of Surrey's 26 air quality management areas, where current or future air quality is unlikely to meet national objectives.

For example, nitrogen dioxide is high across the borough of Spelthorne, most likely due to its proximity to Heathrow, the M25 and the M3.

There will also be £9 million invested in targeting pinch points, to help ensure buses can be relied upon to run to their published timetables.

A further £6.3 million will fund 50 ultra-low or zero-emission community transport minibuses.

Bids for these will be invited from all providers of home-to-school, adult social care and health transport, including borough and district councils.

Councillor Natalie Bramhall, cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: "Surrey's roads carry twice as much traffic than the average to the South East, and it's vital in Surrey that we increase the usage of public transport, and at the same time reduce our transport emissions."

Surrey County Council is dedicating £1.4 million to improving the real-time passenger information system, such as more on-street displays.

Council leader Tim Oliver said: "It's absolutely essential that we build and facilitate a good public transport infrastructure. If we're ever going to get anywhere near our targets we do need to attack that 46% of carbon emissions from transport.

"Only when we've got a reliable transport system with real-time data will people be confident to use it."