The US ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have replaced their truck fleets with thousands of new vehicles as part of a scheme to reduce harmful emissions.

The programme, to ban the old and dirty fleet of nearly 16,000 trucks on the ports, has added 9,000 new trucks complying with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standards and has removed nearly 2,000 diesel burning trucks from the area.

The move has led to a cut in air pollution equivalent to the amount produced by 200,000 cars a year, according to the Californian authorities.

The programme is part of a larger Clean Air Action Plan to cut air pollution by 50% over the next five years at the ports including ships, trains, trucks, cargo handling equipment and harbour.