Council leader Spencer Flower says he wants Dorset to become the number one authority for tackling climate change.

He says the aim of the authority is to get to a zero carbon status, or as near as possible, as soon as it can.

Neighbouring authority, Wiltshire, is currently named as the best for tackling the climate problem by Friends of the Earth, said Cllr Flower, adding that he wanted Dorset to have the top slot.

“We have around 60 officers in task and finish groups supporting the work of out executive advisory panel on climate change. I think that shows our commitment,” he told Thursday evening’s full council meeting.

During the public question session Amy Smith had asked the council when it would join the majority of councils who had declared a climate emergency who had also set a target of 2030, or sooner.

She said that of the 267 UK councils who had made the declaration, Dorset remained one of those which was undecided about a target date.

The council has previously declined to set a date until the work of its climate change panel had concluded and any recommendations made to the full council.

Some of the ideas from the panel are expected to be discussed, for the first time in public, in April next year.