Leicester has been chosen as the first city in the UK to trial a fleet of truly green cars.

A deal signed today between Leicester City Council and sustainable car company Riversimple will see 30 hydrogen-powered cars brought into the city in 2012.

Motorists will be to hire the 30 trial cars out to drive for up to a year and give designers vital feedback.

If they prove a hit, Riversimple will look to build a factory in Leicester capable of producing 5,000 cars a year.

Hugo Spowers, Riversimple's founder, believes that the days of cars as we know them are numbered.

"We are delighted to have found in Leicester a city which realised that the goals of sustainable transport means that words have to be turned into actions," said Mr Spowers.

"By signing this deal, we will both become pioneers.

"The age of fossil-fuelled cars may not be over yet, but it is surely dying.

"Contrary to what we usually hear, sustainable, near pollution free, transport is possible, here and now, using existing technology."

The car has been more than 11 years in the making.

It is powered by a fuel cell which converts hydrogen into electricity – producing no harmful exhaust emissions.

Designed by British motorsport engineers and built at Silverstone, it has a maximum cruising speed of 50mph, can go from 0 to 30mph in 5.5 seconds and has a range, on just one tank of hydrogen, of about 240 miles.

It weighs just 350kg – a Ford Focus comes in at about 1,400kg – and Riversimple claim it is able to do the equivalent of 300 miles a gallon.

Refuelling takes five minutes from empty and the car emits less than a third of the CO² than its nearest rival.

However, if the hydrogen used to power it is generated from renewable energy sources, that figure drops dramatically.

Riversimple will open up the pilot scheme to council staff, businesses, retail customers and car share schemes.

Councillor Abdul Osman, Leicester's transport spokesman, said: "This is great news for Leicester, and confirms the city's status as leading the way in environmental terms.

"This is another step in making Leicester a better place to live, and proposals to build the cars locally, if it proves successful, could also mean a major jobs boost for the city."