MALVERN'S car club is expecting more people to move to communal transport with the easing of lockdown.

During the pandemic, with more and more people working from home, car usage and petrol consumption has plummeted.

Because of this, the Malvern Hills Car Club said it expects more people to move away from owning their own car as a result of the cost-saving.

The club, which has 150 households, provides 18 vehicles in Malvern, Colwall and Ledbury, and is aimed at people who use their car less than three times a week.

Substantial financial savings can result, as joining the car club means that you do not have to pay for tax and insurance, or MoT and servicing, or unexpected repairs.

You also avoid the hidden cost of depreciation which only appears when you sell or part exchange your car.

All of those costs are covered by the car club in such a way that you only pay for what you use.

The Car Club was created by Robin Coates as part of the Transition Malvern Hills initiative, with the original purpose of making a contribution to reducing our carbon footprint.

This reason for its existence is still very valid. Climate change is not going to go away, and governments now seem to be taking it more seriously, even if there has been less of a focus on it during the pandemic.

In areas of Malvern where parking can be a challenge, for example in West Malvern, one car club car will replace five or six privately owned cars.

A spokesman said: "There are some members of the Car Club who use it in very creative ways. For example, the Car Club owns a Ford Ranger pickup, which is ideal for things like trip to the council tip.

"The pickup has a tow bar, and Kay uses it to tow her caravan. She mostly goes on relatively local trips like this, for example to Bewdley or Winchcombe.

"Her most local caravan trip was to Eastnor Park. On the occasion she towed her caravan to Eastnor with the pickup, left the caravan there, and went straight back home, and then returned to the caravan in her own small car.

"That way she had a large vehicle to do the towing, but only paid for it for the hour that she was using it, rather than for the whole weekend.

"Another advantage of the pickup for her is that there is plenty of room in the back of it for gear such as bikes and the awning for the caravan.

"She also used the pickup when her son moved house, which was much better than doing lots of trips in the car."

For more information about the car club, go to malvernhills-carclubs.org.uk/