Lancashire to welcome more EV charge points

Lancashire County Council is set to roll out more charging points for people who own electric vehicles.

The programme to introduce the points will begin in the New Year.

The council has recently awarded a contract to Chargemaster to install 150 charging points across the county.

It follows a successful bid for £14.8m from the Department for Transport's Highway Maintenance Challenge Fund to invest in new technology, with some of the budget set aside to make it easier for drivers of electric cars to find somewhere to charge their batteries.

County Councillor Keith Iddon, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We have received funding from the Department for Transport to establish a network of 150 charging points.

"The scheme aims to increase take-up of electric vehicles by ensuring owners can always find somewhere to recharge when making local journeys.

"We have very recently appointed a contractor to install them, and are now working with them to finalise the programme. We expect the first charging points will begin being installed in the New Year."

The funding received from the DfT for new technology is also being used to replace old streetlights with new LED lights, which has already resulted in energy savings worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.