PLANS are underway to put electric car chargers in car parks across Colchester after it was revealed the borough was lagging behind on installing charging points.

Government figures revealed gaps in the country’s electric infrastructure.

The Department for Transport estimates there were just 24 public charging devices in Colchester at the beginning of October.

That’s a rate of 12 devices per 100,000 people, significantly lower than the UK average of 23 devices per 100,000 people.

The area counts five rapid charge points among its electric infrastructure, which can crank most electric car batteries up to 100 per cent in under half an hour.

These are much faster than regular devices, which can take up to eight hours to charge a car.

Local authorities in the UK have access to a £5 million fund to help build up their electric infrastructure.

But the Government league table suggested many need to up the number of charging points installed.

A spokesman for Colchester Council said the authority wanted to make “significant progress” on a project to install more chargers.

He said: “We have recently been working on a procurement framework agreement which will enable access to chargers from a preferred supplier at zero cost to the council.

“Discussions continue with the supplier, who will carry out all the necessary survey work to establish suitable sites for chargers to be installed.

“Priory Street car park already has the necessary infrastructure to support charging units and will be the first to be fitted with chargers.

“Other town centre locations will also be considered, including but not exclusively St Mary’s, Butt Road and Napier Road car parks.

“The EV charging units being installed will be second-generation models capable of superfast charging times.

“We are still in the early stages of this project, so it’s not possible to give any specific timescales at this precise time, but there is a drive to make some significant progress in the new year.”

To view the devices in Colchester visit www.zap-map.com.