New electric vehicle charging points could be coming to the streets of Gloucester and Cheltenham, if the county council's cabinet approves plans.

The cabinet will consider the rollout of on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging points when it meets next week (23rd June).

Increasing the number of charging points would give people around the county more options to help reduce carbon emissions from transport, improving air quality while keeping Gloucestershire moving.

Cabinet will also be asked to consider the wider Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) Strategy, which sets out how the council, developers, businesses and transport operators can support the change to zero carbon travel.

Last year, the UK government announced it will ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. The rollout of on-street charging points, as well as a wider strategy to create EV infrastructure, will encourage residents to make the switch by giving them more charging availability.

A major barrier to people buying hybrid and electric vehicles is the charging network - 30 per cent of households are unable to charge a vehicle off street. So the government is prioritising 75 per cent grant funding to councils to invest in on-street chargers in residential areas. This means county council funding will be matched 3:1 by government bids to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

If cabinet approves, the county council will invest £620k in the first of 500 double charging points (1000 charging points in total) around the county, adding to the privately owned points already in place in car parks and fuel stations. The rollout of the first 25 double charge points will start in Gloucester and Cheltenham later this financial year.

Cllr David Gray, cabinet member responsible for tackling climate change, said: "We must continue to be proactive to improve air quality and reduce carbon throughout Gloucestershire.

"Transport makes up around a third of our county's carbon emissions, and we know the effects poor air quality has on health. By giving people more on-street charging points, we're making it even easier to make the switch to electric vehicles - keeping people moving while decreasing diesel and petrol fumes in our communities."

The Gloucestershire ULEV Strategy will also help develop plans for more low emission, low carbon buses to deliver the government's Bus Back Better strategy and road map to net zero bus services.