DRIVERS of electric vehicles are now able to recharge their cars in Park Street Car Park in Northwich.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has used two sources of funding to boost electric vehicle charging facilities right across the borough.

New facilities are available across Cheshire West to allow residents and visitors to charge their electric vehicles in more locations, especially in areas where residents have no off-street parking.

The project has been delivered by council company Qwest Service,s in partnership with leading Energy specialist ENGIE, using funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and a Government Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) grant, along with match funding from the council.

As part of the Council’s commitment to tackle the Climate Emergency and to improve local air quality, a total of 29 new electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints have been installed.

With the Government’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars just nine years away, the chargepoints will help residents, businesses and the council to start making the switch to electric vehicles.

Park Street Car Park in Northwich has two dual-socket fast GeniePoint chargers, installed and managed by ENGIE EV Solutions.

Councillor Matt Bryan, cabinet member for the Climate Emergency said: "This is a positive step for Cheshire West and Chester to become a cleaner, greener borough and shows how important the environment is to the council as we work to tackle the Climate Emergency.

"Our Low Emission Strategy seeks to accelerate the rate of electric vehicle take up within the borough.

"Battery electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions, which is important for people’s health, and the power supplied to our public chargepoints is from 100 per cent renewable sources.

"Providing a good network of public charging points throughout Cheshire West has been identified as critical to deliver this."

Dee Humphries, managing director of ENGIE EV Solutions, said: "Local authorities play a vital role in helping the UK to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, so it’s fantastic to once again be working alongside Cheshire West and Chester Council to deliver multiple electric vehicle charging provisions in the district.

"By improving EV charging infrastructure for council workers, local businesses, and the public, we hope to be able to encourage even wider adoption of electric vehicles in the local area – taking us one step closer to achieving net zero carbon emissions."

Ben Cummins, managing director of Qwest Services, the council company responsible for delivering the works, said: "Qwest is proud to support the council in the transition to a zero carbon economy, and these charging points will allow residents and visitors to transfer to electric vehicles with confidence."