A London-first pollution-free station for hydrogen powered cars was unveiled at Teddington’s National Physical Laboratory on Tuesday.

Clean energy firm ITM Power cut the ribbon at the opening, which was the biggest gathering of production fuel cell vehicles in Britain, and experts claim the station marks a vital step towards cleaning London’s air.

Transport minister Andrew James oversaw the showcase of fuel cell vehicles from Toyota, BMW and Honda as well as the unveiling of the fuel pump, which uses excess grid energy to generate electrolysis of water, removing the need for fuel deliveries.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

The station is the first of four to be built around the M25 by the end of the year under the Government and EU-backed HyFive project.

Mr Jones said: “The new refuelling station at Teddington is just one of 12 stations opening up this year, backed by £5 million of government funding, that will make it easier for more people to switch to this exciting new technology.”

The electrolyser at the NPL is capable of generating enough hydrogen to refuel 16 cars a day and refuelling takes a few minutes.

There are plans for 65 more stations across the UK by 2020.