A green-conscious car-sharing initiative, allowing motorists to rent smart cars on demand, is set to arrive in south-west London.

A fleet of 500 Smart cars are due to be deployed across Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Kingston, Richmond, South Lambeth, South Southwark and Croydon as part of a 250 sq km expansion by company Car2Go.

The service lets members pick up Car2Go Smart cars from parking spaces across the network having downloaded an app on their phone or used their website to find out where they are.

Members then swipe a card over a sensor on the windscreen to gain access and can then use the vehicles as much as they like for 35p per minute.

The cars can be left in any legal, unrestricted free-parking spaces within the Car2Go approved areas.

The scheme drew controversy when it was initially launched in Sutton in December 2012 after Smart cars flooded residents’ bays across the borough resulting in complaints from residents who had their spaces taken.

The company later apologised and said they had mistakenly left some of their fleet in resident only bays.