THE council is set to install more electric vehicle charging points at car parks across the city after winning government funding.

A city bid for government ‘on-street residential charging scheme’ money has been backed by ministers, which makes almost £70,000 available to help cover the cost of installing electric vehicle charging points at two council-owned car parks.

A total of £68,560 has been made available to Worcester City Council by the Department for Transport to go alongside £55,000 of the council’s own funds to install dual charging points at the city’s Tallow Hill and King Street car parks – allowing up to 20 electric charges to be charged at one time across the two sites.

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The number of charging points across the two parks is slightly lower than previously imagined, with council reports from October last year suggesting that new facilities would be provided to charge up to 32 electric vehicles.

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Last month, the council backed a move by Italian restaurant Benedicto’s in Sidbury to buy a chunk of land at the neighbouring King Street car park to make way for a two-storey extension – at a loss of two parking spaces.

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A total of 18 spaces would be shut for the duration of the year-long work and another six spaces would be lost for at least a month when the payment machines are moved.

A third of homes in Worcester do not have access to their own driveway which makes it difficult for some electric vehicle owners to charge their cars at home.

The council’s environment committee meets in the Guildhall on March 14 and will be asked to green-light the move to install more charging points.

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Cllr Andy Stafford, chair of the council’s environment committee, said: “Providing more EV charging points is a key element of our environmental sustainability strategy, helping to support the UK’s transport future, with the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles being banned from 2030.

“Our data mapping shows that a significant number of residents who live within walking distance of the council’s Tallow Hill and King Street car parks are likely to own electric cars either now or in the near future but do not have off-street parking.

“That makes these two car parks ideal locations for EV charging points.”