Electric dreams: Drivers to get free power boost at 13 different locations in Wakefield district

Drivers will be able to reboot their vehicles at West Street car park in Normanton from this Friday.

And the charging point in Horbury's High Street car park will be usable by the end of November, with a further 11 stations to be installed across the area over the coming months.

The ports can fully charge an electric car in less than an hour, and drivers will be able to use them for free until October 2021, though any parking charges may still apply.

Each location will also have a designated bay for taxis to power up.

Speaking in Horbury on Wednesday, Wakefield Council's portfolio holder for transport, Matthew Morley, said that the charging points are a "massive" part of the authority's plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.

He said: "This is a small start, but we will keep rolling them out and rolling them out. Over the next 10 to 15 years as we see more electric cars on the road, we will have to put more in place.

"As we move forward as a council, we'll have to make sure all of our own vehicles are electric."

A further 11 locations across the Wakefield district have been earmarked for the charging points, but the council says these have yet to be confirmed and are subject to change.

But at present they include sites in Ossett, Pontefract, Glass Houghton, Durkar and South Elmsall.

Denise Jeffery, the Wakefield Council's deputy leader, added: "We want residents in Wakefield to consider switching to electric vehicles and one of the best ways to do this is to make it convenient and free for people to access chargepoints.

"As a council we have committed to becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2030 and it is important that we also encourage our residents to reduce their carbon footprint.

“The electricity comes from 100 per cent renewable sources, so is great for the environment and just one of the many schemes we are looking at to help tackle climate change."

Local Democracy Reporting Service