Dorchester is set to get new charging points for electric vehicles as part of Dorset Council's plans.

An expansion to the existing charging network will see a combination of fast (22kW), rapid (50kW) and ultra-fast (150kW) charging units installed across Dorset; the latter allowing users to charge 100 miles in just ten minutes.

Dorset Council says increasing the number of EV points is essential if Dorset hopes to meet the government target of becoming a carbon-neutral county by 2050.

The new charging points in Dorchester will be at Durngate Street car park, Fairfield long stay car park, and Top O'Town short stay car park.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council's Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: "By increasing the provision of electric vehicle charging points, we hope to provide the essential infrastructure needed to encourage more car owners in Dorset to choose electric vehicles over petrol and diesel equivalents."

There are 23 locations targeted by Dorset Council for new EV charging points, they include Bridport, Sturminster, and Ferndown, among many others.

Funding to install and manage the new charge points is coming from a mixture of sources, with the main bulk of the cost (77%) being met by Joju Charging and their funding partners Mer. The remaining costs are being funded by the council through a mixture of developer funding and the Department of Transport's On-Street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS).

Chas Warlow, Head of Sales for Joju Charging, added: "Joju is delighted to be working with Dorset Council once again, following the success of our partnership with the council and Mer Charging UK on the first phase of the council's roll-out of EV charging infrastructure."

Once this phase of installations is complete, Dorset Council will have over 80 charging units in its sponsored network, helping to keep Dorset in the top 20% of charge point numbers in the country.

Click here to view all of Dorset's charge points.