NEW charge points for electric cars are on the way to Runcorn and Widnes n the hope of encouraging electric car ownership to help improve air quality.

After successfully securing a grant of £74,250 from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), Halton Borough Council will install on-street charging points later this month for residents to charge plug-in electric vehicles.

Wellington Street, Halton Road and Rutland Street in Runcorn and Albert Road North and Appleton Village in Widnes will be included with charging costs expected at 25p/kWh in the first year of the scheme.

A spokesperson for the council said: "Last year the council ran a public consultation asking people to suggest locations for charging points and, having considered the most popular and most practical, these locations were chosen.

"They are areas where there is a shortage of off-street parking such as terraced properties, so that people without driveways will have the opportunity to consider switching to an electric car."

The installation work will be carried out late March/early April and will take four to five days on each street.

Benefits of owning or leasing an electric vehicle include it being cheaper to run; better for the environment and less noise pollution.

Any member of the public will be able to use the charge points via the Connected Kerb phone app and contactless payment.

For more information on electric vehicle charge points, e-mail transport.policy@halton.gov.uk.

Alternatively, there are two drop-in sessions where you can find out more:

• The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn. Wednesday 11 March, 4pm-5.30pm

• Halton Direct Link, Brook Street, Widnes. Thursday 12 March, 4pm-5.30pm.

The charge points are made using recycled materials and supplied by award-winning UK electric vehicle charging business Connected Kerb.

In conjunction with the scheme Connected Kerb will be running an EV trial promotion for local residents. Details will be available on the company's website at: www.connnectedkerb.com from May.