A switch-off mascot has been introduced at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to encourage tenants to save energy.

The measures introduced at the multi-purpose venue have already saved nearly 85 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the first three months of this year.

An energy management team including partners and staff has been put into place to co-ordinate its energy policy.

Liz Cooper, marketing director at the Ricoh Arena, said reducing areas of energy consumption at the venue would make a big difference to the environment as well as the business.

"All the partners are really behind this initiative and have approached it with great enthusiasm," she said.

"Energy champions are being set up among all the different tenants and the switch-off character has been developed for our awareness campaign to encourage everyone not to leave on computers and lights unnecessarily.

"The campaign will highlight why we need to change our ways as well as promote our achievements.

"Tenants that save the most energy every month will be visited by the switch-off mascot who will present them with cakes for their staff as an extra incentive.

"By introducing various energy saving methods at the Ricoh Arena we have saved 84.3 tonnes of CO2 compared to this time last year and that figure will grow as the measures start to take effect."

Alan Pickering, energy manager at the Ricoh Arena, said he was also looking into renewable energy and greener supplies at the venue.

"We are putting in an automated metering system for better energy monitoring to reduce our water and gas consumption," he said.

"We are installing passive infra-red sensors in the corridors and toilets and we are improving our management of other areas of the building by computerising our lighting.

"We are also planning to improve our building management system and the support that we have had from everyone who works here is fantastic as we reduce our energy consumption."