They are the guardians of our ecology. But do they practise what they preach, asks Environment Editor Rob Edwards

They urge everyone else to leave their cars at home to help save the planet, then they jump into theirs. The board members of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) made five times more journeys by car than by train last year - and claimed 10 times more in expenses for them.

Sepa's former chairman, Sir Ken Collins, managed to rack up a bill of £3173 for 106 trips in his car, while only claiming £1.20 for two train fares. Before he stepped down at the end of December 2007, he also claimed £1114 for 64 taxi trips.

Sepa's advice to the public is only to use private cars as a last resort. Its own environmental policy, for which the chairman is ultimately responsible, is to "encourage the use of public transport by its employees wherever appropriate".

The agency also runs a free shuttle-bus service from Stirling railway station to its corporate headquarters just outside the town. "Visitors to any of Sepa's Stirling offices are encouraged to use this service," it says.

Details of travel claims made by 10 board members in 2007 have been released by Sepa in response to a request under freedom of information law. Overall, they claimed £6647 for 194 car journeys, compared to £656 for 35 train journeys.

All but eight of the train journeys were made by three board members: the chair of Friends of the Earth Scotland Dr Helen Zealley, the former ScottishPower director Fred Dinning, and Sepa's chief executive Campbell Gemmell.

But the other seven board members mostly chose to use their cars, with four of them not making any claims for train journeys in 2007.

Aside from Collins, the most expensive car user was Brian Clark, a professor of environmental management at Aberdeen University, who claimed £1643 for 18 car journeys.

"These are busy people from a range of backgrounds, but it is very disappointing that many of them have made so little use of public transport," said Dr Richard Dixon, director of environmental group WWF Scotland.

"It is particularly poor that the former chairman has set such a poor example. The new chairman is going to have to do considerably better if he is to earn the respect of Sepa's staff and stakeholders."

David Sigsworth, the former Scottish and Southern Energy executive who now chairs Sepa, has claimed £650 for 37 car journeys and £28.30 for two train trips between October 8, 2007, and April 31, 2008.

Car-parking spaces are regularly reserved for board members when they have meetings at the Stirling office. This has irritated staff, who are currently engaged in an industrial dispute with Sepa's management over pay regrading.

Sepa pointed out that the chairmen had the highest claims because they had to attend the most meetings. "Board members use public transport wherever possible but, given the spread of members' home locations and their other commitments, it is not always a feasible option," said a spokeswoman.

"The time taken to travel by public transport can mean it is not a viable option when moving between meetings and attending other commitments. Car-sharing is also used wherever possible."

Collins, who was a Labour MEP for 20 years, could not be contacted for a comment.

Brian Clark, who left Sepa's board at the end of 2007, said he used public transport when he could.

But the need to fit in extra meetings and to get home to Aberdeen at night meant he often had to use his car. "With public transport, I couldn't lead the busy life I lead," he said.