Tees Valley property company The Vela Group has ordered 129 Citroën vans to replace the majority of its 200-strong vehicle fleet.

Vela, which owns and manages former council housing in Stockton and Hartlepool, has ordered 120 Citroën Dispatch L2 1200 vans, eight Citroën Relay 35 L3 H2 HDi 130 vans and a Nemo 1.3 HDi Stop & Start van, as well as some cars.

The order will be fulfilled by Gateshead dealer Springfield Citroën and the vans will be used by Vela’s maintenance teams to provide a 24-hour service to customers across its 17,000 properties in Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool.

All the vans are ply-lined and have been specified with passenger airbags, full steel bulkheads, reversing warning systems and parking sensors. Eighty of the vehicles are fitted with roof bars or tilt and slide ladder racks, and one of the Relays is fitted with an external glazing rack – all installed by Lyndon Security.

All of the vehicles are fitted with Teletrac satellite tracking to minimise response times and to help Vela meet its commitment to health and safety and the environment. Around half of the Citroën vehicles in this Vela Group order have been funded through Citroën Contract Motoring 3 or 4 year, 30,000 or 40,000 mile with-maintenance contract hire agreements – with the remaining vehicles being purchased outright.

Mike Kay, Group Director of Property Services at Vela, said:

“We went through a rigorous selection and procurement process, which included user groups made up of trades operatives, managers and supervisors to evaluate the options offered by the leading vehicle manufacturers. The decision to go with Citroën was based on a comprehensive assessment of suitability, vehicle data, ergonomics and cost.”