Local hubs save 7 million road miles

The scheme allows small suppliers to get their products into stores via a local distribution centre which manages their paperwork, logistics, orders and invoicing on their behalf.

The ten-hub network has reduced road miles by 5.2 million, according to Asda. It hopes that the launch of five new hubs in Nottingham, Leicestershire, West Midlands, Cornwall and Yorkshire later this year will save a further 1.6 million road miles.

"The success of our local hub initiative has been phenomenal," said Richard Pearson, head of local sourcing.

"Not only does it signal a new way in which supermarkets can work with some of the smallest UK suppliers, it also reduces our overall carbon footprint, enables us to increase the amount of local products available to our customers and makes life much simpler for hundreds of local producers."

Last year Asda said it had saved more than 22 million road miles by moving more of its food and clothing distribution from road to rail.

A deep sea port facility at Teesside, opened last year, cut annual road mileage by a further 2.5 million miles. Double-deck trailers have also been recently introduced by the company.