Fifty new on-street electric vehicle chargepoints are set to be installed in Eastleigh and Winchester.

As part of an innovative pilot scheme being launched in March, two different types of chargepoints will be installed on streetlighting columns in Winchester and bollards in Eastleigh.

This comes after a funding bid to the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles resulted in a £125,000 grant being awarded which was also funded by the county council.

The project is part of the county council's commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, Councillor Rob Humby, said: “With a third of carbon emissions in Hampshire coming from transport, I’m keen that appropriate charging infrastructure is in place to encourage people to make the switch to electric vehicles where they can.

“This is why we are looking at innovative solutions - in this case how we can make it easier for people to charge their electric vehicles on the street if they do not live in a property with a private driveway by installing change points on streetlights and bollards.

"With a national ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles coming into effect in 2030, this is the right time to run this trial, which we will monitor for effectiveness with a view to rolling out further across the county, subject to funding."

The cost of charging will be 25p/kWh and details about charging and instructions on how to use will be on the street light columns and bollards.

In Winchester, SSE will install the chargepoints in the Hyde area on roads including Egbert Road, Monks Road, Nuns Road, Arthur Road, Saxon Road, King Alfred Terrace, King Alfred Place and Hyde Abbey Road.

In Eastleigh, SSE will install the chargepoints on bollards and a small number of streetlights on Archers Road, Nutbeem Road, Factory Road, Chamberlayne Road, Cranbury Road, Desborough Road, High Street, Market Street, The Crescent, Newtown Road, Arnold Road, Doncaster Road.

Hampshire County Council says it will try to minimise disruption to residents but some parking bays will be unavailable during the works.

Work in both areas will be starting in the week beginning March 1 and will take around a week to complete.

Residents across Hampshire are being encouraged to fill out a survey on the County Council’s website to identify locations where there is demand for EV points.