SWINDON is helping to create the cars of the future which are powered by hydrogen fuel cells - and a local dealership is stocking the first SUV of its kind.

West Swindon chemicals firm Johnson Matthey manufactures components for hydrogen fuel cells and has one of two hydrogen refuelling stations in the town.

Dr Angus Dickinson is part of a team of 200 people developing the cells which generate electricity from a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen at the company's Lydiard Fields site.

He said: ""Hydrogen fuel cells have always been talked of as the power source of 10 years' time but it's being used right now.

"Ninety percent of the world's fuel cell products are being exported to China – it's a huge export market for us.

"Most car manufacturers in the world have a hydrogen programme. They see plug-in electric vehicles as complementary to hydrogen technology."

Business leaders from all over Swindon got the chance to get behind the wheel of a hydrogen-powered Hyundai at a special event celebrating the town being at the forefront of this revolutionary technology.

The Hyundai Nexo SUV is being supplied by the town's Pebley Beach car dealership and only a handful of the vehicles are currently on Britain's roads.

Hydrogen cars emit nothing more harmful than water. The Hyundai Nexo purifies the air as it goes, with an indicator on the dashboard telling the driver how much particulate matter has been removed from the atmosphere.

The cars are refuelled at a pump and can go hundreds of miles between top-ups. Swindon is the only place outside London in the UK to have two hydrogen refuelling stations.

Fewer than 10 hydrogen-powered vehicles are on Swindon's roads, though half of them are Hyundais used by Johnson Matthey and the National Trust.

Pebley Beach's business fleet manager Phil Brodrick said: "Hydrogen technology will play an increasingly important part in getting us from A to B in a cleaner way, whether it's powering our cars or our trains and buses.

"It's an exciting future, and we're proud that Swindon and Pebley Beach and can play such an important part in it."