The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced the launch of a £20 million fund for the development of new products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles.

Businesses up and down the country are invited to bid for a share of the finance, which is being delivered as part of the government's wider £100 million investment in research and development of intelligent mobility. 

This was initially announced in the March 2015 Budget and will administered by Innovate UK. 

Greenwich, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry are already playing host to driverless car trials, which the government hopes will help to establish the UK as a major global player in intelligent-vehicle technologies. 

Larger research and development projects are expected to attain the bulk of the new funding, but a smaller portion of £2.5 million has been set aside for smaller feasibility studies.