ELECTRIC vehicle charging points have been installed in Lydney as part of a county-wide programme.

The four points are at Templeway West opposite Lydney Town Hall and have been installed by Gloucestershire County Council.

They are the third set of charging points to be installed by the council in the Forest with the others being at Station Street in Cinderford and Church Street, Newent.

The Lydney points were officially unveiled on Friday (March 23) by the county council Cabinet member for environment Cllr David Gray (Con, Tewkesbury).

He said: “ We now have more than 100 installed charge points across Gloucestershire and we are targeting over 1,000.

“We recently received some very good news that central government has given us another £3.629 million towards financing the installation of these new points.

“The objective is to provide everyone in Gloucestershire with EV charging points to encourage people to take up electric vehicles in order to address climate change.

“This will make it easier for people to switch to electric vehicles, helping to create a greener Gloucestershire, as they reduce emissions and noise pollution and improve air quality.”

Cllr Preest, the county councillor Lydney also welcomed the installation of the new chargers.

He said: “We are in one of the best areas of Lydney opposite the town hall which is doing well with events and a strong residential area

“It sends out the message that we take this climate crisis very seriously.”

The new chargers will cost 48p per kilowatt hour to use, said James Douglas of Connected Kerb which has been appointed by the county council to install and run the charger network.

He said the cost was singificantly cheaper than the average price of 58p per kilowatt hour.

It will take up to seven hours to fully charge an average vehicle, he added.

The council says that nearly 130 chargepoints will have been installed by the end of this month which will act as a “springboard” to step up installations next year.

The scheme is being funded by the county council and the Department of Transport’s On-Street Residential Chargepoint initiative.