Electric vehicle (EV) charging points have been upgraded in a town centre parking area.

Motorists visiting Sittingbourne have now been promised a more reliable charge after Swale council made improvements to charging points in the Bourne Place multi-storey car park.

The previous chargers on the ground floor of the car park have been replaced with two new Pod Point chargers.

These offer a total of four charging outlets for electric vehicles to use, two 22KW fast chargers and two 7KW chargers.

The new charge points will require payment for each KW hour used, the same as our other chargers, but EV drivers can park for free by simply scanning the QR code at the charging station and following the instructions.

These improvements are part of the council's ongoing work to encourage the take up of more environmentally friendly electric vehicles.

Cllr Rich Lehmann, chair of the Environment Committee, said: “We are continually looking for ways to improve our electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“Whether adding new charging stations around the borough or, as is the case here, improving the ones we already have.

“These new chargers are more reliable and will make it easier for people to charge their electric vehicles.

“There is also now a simple way to validate parking at the Bourne Place Multi-Storey Car Park when you are using the charging stations.

“We want to promote the use of electric vehicles in Swale and are trying to make EV ownership as accessible and convenient as possible.”