SNP minister John Swinney has been slated by opposition MSPs for environmental hypocrisy after he used his ministerial car for a journey of 200 metres.

As the Scottish Government Minister for Finance and Sustainable Growth, Mr Swinney has overall responsibility for climate change.

However, only days after launching a consultation on a new climate change bill, Mr Swinney used his ministerial chauffer-driven car to drive him the short distance from the parliament to the The Tun, the BBC’s broadcasting headquarters in Edinburgh.

In a further embarrassment, the driver allegedly left the engine running for the 20 minutes it took Mr Swinney to conduct the interview. Such behaviour would appear to undermine the efforts of the Scottish Government to use LPG petrol in ministerial cars, which is more environmentally friendly.

A Labour Party spokesperson told The Scotsman: “The SNP's talk of a greener government has failed to be backed up by action. Only a few days ago, John Swinney launched his consultation on a climate-change bill. If he talks the talk, maybe he should literally walk the walk.”

His behaviour stands in sharp contrast with the image portrayed by Mr Swinney’s arrival at the 2002 SNP party conference on bicycle, when he was leader of the party.

The actions of the minister were defended by representatives of his party, who claimed that Mr Swinney was using the car to carry him and his work papers home – papers which, they said, he worked on during the journey.

However, it has been suggested that the decision was made because Mr Swinney’s aides were concerned the bad weather might result in the minister appearing windswept in his interview.

Mr Swinney is not the first politician to come under attack for his personal environmental credentials. John Prescott was famously nicknamed ‘Two-Jags Prescott’ after his use of his ministerial cars and close attention has recently been paid to the carbon footprint of ministers, after it was revealed that government ministers accounted for 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2006.

A Green Party spokesman said: "Recent figures have demonstrated ministers' increased reliance on cars and planes rather than buses and trains. We would urge them again to set a good example in this area."

The recent criticism of Mr Swinney is particularly awkward for the minister who is on record as saying: “We need more people across the country to make the choice to leave the car at home.”