New charging points will be installed across the Harborough district

Drivers will soon have more places to top up their electric vehicles in Harborough as new charge-up points are set up in an £73,000 eco scheme.

Some 10 more charging points, with associated bays, will be installed across the district over the next few weeks.

Harborough District Council is acting after being handed Government funding to back residents without off-street parking.

The charge points will be created alongside EB Charging in Doddridge Road, St Mary’s West, and Angel Street car parks in Market Harborough.

They have all been chosen as they are near homes without off-street parking.

Overnight parking is free at council-owned car parks from 6pm to 7am.

Some 75 per cent of funding for the £73,000 project is coming from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

The rest of the cash is being provided by the council and its partners, including nearly £12,000 from EB Charging.

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, the council’s portfolio holder for Environment and Regulatory Services, said: “We are delighted to be introducing so many new charge points, which directly supports our climate agenda to make the district cleaner and greener.

“These charge points will be available in the day for residents and visitors to town.

“But, more importantly, the chargers will be available to local residents who aren’t able to have a charger at home because they don’t have off-street parking,” said Cllr Bateman.

“The chargers will mean that residents can choose an electric car if they wish, knowing that they can charge nearby.”

The council has already introduced electric charging points in Orchard Road, Broughton Astley, School Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Station Road, Lutterworth, the Commons, Market Harborough, as well as Harborough Innovation Centre and the Grow on Centre.

There are also other public charge points across the district.

According to the latest Government data there are almost 250 electric cars registered in Harborough District.

That figure is rising all the time.

And some estimates are predicting an increase to around 6,000 electric cars by 2025.

The number of charge-ups at the council’s electric points have also spiralled by over 10 times in the last three years, from 181 to 2,036.

And more than one in four new cars sold in December was electric.

Alex Calnan, the chief executive of St Albans-based EB Charging, said: “We’re very excited by Harborough’s plans and were happy to offer financial support to the project.

“We'd like to see zero emission towns and cities everywhere and these charge points will go a long way to supporting cleaner, healthier air in the district.”

It will cost about 34p per kilowatt to charge vehicles, approximately £2.38 for an hour from a seven kilowatt charger, dependent on the vehicle.

Drivers are advised that some car park bays will be unavailable this month as cables are laid and the chargers installed.

The charge-up points are expected to be ready to use in March.

Find out more about local electric charge-up points at www.harborough.gov.uk/evehicles