An electric bike delivery project, 'ExeCargo', has received £1,000 in match funding from Devon County Council after it managed to raise more than £1,000 itself by 8 October.

If a further £1,000 can be raised, the project will be able to get £1,500 more from Devon County Council's #BackTheFuture campaign.

The Transition Exmouth project began with a successful three-month trial earlier this year, with three local businesses using the ExeCargo e-bike.

The e-bike was initially hired, and so Transition Exmouth now needs to purchase its own - or a fleet of electric bicycles, if enough funds can be raised.

A spokesperson for Transition Exmouth said: "[The extra match funding] would secure our first e-cargo bike and get us well on track for the next in our fleet.

"I've just heard that if we can raise just £500, a kind anonymous donor will top this up to get us to the target - come on Exmouth people!

"Our goal is to increase awareness of the potential of e-cargo bikes for last-mile delivery services, reducing emissions (and of course there's no fuel shortages with an e-bike)."

Business members of Transition Exmouth will initially be able to book the e-bike for a fee via Exmouth Cycles, and then later via an app called Ordaloca currently being developed by Propeller Exmouth.

There will be a talk on Execargo and other current Transition Exmouth projects at Sundowners cafe on the Strand in Exmouth tomorrow (7 October) at 7.30pm.

The Crowdfunder is due to close at 12pm on Friday 8 October. Click here if you would like to learn more about the ExeCargo project and donate.

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