​A new roof, greener escalators and more efficient lighting are just some of the ways a Cheltenham shopping centre is ahead of the pack on climate change.

After a recent refurbishment, Regent Arcade is greener, warmer and ready to cut its carbon footprint as part of the Gloucestershire 10:10 campaign.

Centre manager John Forward said the it was embarking on a year of mammoth eco savings, which could amount to as much as £40,000, and it all started in the toilets.

“About 18 months ago we completely refurbished the customer toilets,” he said.

“We have electric flushes in all urinals and toilets and we have electric-sensor taps which, coupled with smaller cisterns, reduces our water use by 17 per cent.

“We’ve also got a brand new lighting system. All the lights are controlled by computer, and can be dimmed based on how light it is outside.

“All this gives us a reduction in our energy bills of 15 per cent.”

In Julylast year, the centre also installed three new lifts, designed to cut electricity use even further.

Mr Forward said: “They are designed to slow down when there’s no one on them, which saves a lot of electricity.

“We also have lights in all our offices and corridors which switch off automatically, which means you don’t have to rely on people to turn them off.

“But the biggest thing we’ve done is replace the roof.”

The old single-skinned polycarbonate roof has been replaced with triple-glazed glass, which uses automatic vents to control the heating of the mall.

Mr Forward added: “The problem we had before was the vents were always open, and I used to have to walk around in a big coat.

“Now they are automatic, so they can be opened if they need to be or if we want them to be.

“We’ve also made the toilets even more efficient with those special Dyson hand dryers.”

He added although it was too early to make steady predictions of what the company would save over the next year, he was hopeful the savings could run into tens of thousands.

He said: “We haven’t worked out the final figures, but if we carried our electricity bill across the whole year, we would be looking at a saving in excess of £15k.

“Again, in the case of our water bills, we’re probably looking at another £10k to £15k.

“Overall, I think we’re looking at somewhere in the region of between £30k and £40k.”

The Regent Arcade also claims to lead the way with its recycling policy, which extends beyond the normal cardboard recycling to bottles, cans, scrap metal and others. It is also looking at setting up food waste collections.

Truckloads of recycling only leave when they are full, and bits of the old roof have even been made into a greenhouse at the National Star College at Ullenwood.

Mr Forward added: “We are happy to sign up to the 10:10 campaign.”