Nine new county charging stations for electric vehicles will be free to use until November 9.

The Edde Cross Street car park have chargers fitted by another company, SWARCO, in 2021 and whilst they are rapid chargers, they do not fall under this scheme.

The Red Meadows car park, which was fited with EV chargers in 2013 and was brought into town council ownership in 2016 is also not part of this new roll-out.

Since March 2020 all EVs recharging are allowed 30 minutes free parking after which time normal parking charges apply; with a four-hour maximum stay.

From their installation in 2013 up until April 2017, EV recharging was free and there were no maximum parking times.

There is no local budget allocated to the installation of electric vehicle charge points, as all installations currently rely on UK government funding.

Herefordshire Council announced in July that it would be expanding the existing network, in partnership with Wenea.

Over the next two years, the number of charge point bays will increase, with more planned as demand increases.

There will be a move towards more rapid charging and support for residents who have to park on the street.

Cllr John Harrington (Hampton, independents for Herefordshire), Cabinet member for infrastructure and transport said: “It is excellent to see progress being made on the expansion of electric vehicle charge points in the county.

“This increase in charge point provision will support residents, visitors and businesses in making the switch to electric vehicles.

“The council has made a commitment to reaching carbon net zero by 2030 and strengthening our EV network is a vital part of that effort.”

James Cornaro, project manager at Wenea, added: “At Wenea we are very proud to have arrived in Herefordshire.

“In doing so, we are continuing our mission to roll out the country’s largest fast and ultra-fast charging network.

“We would therefore like to announce that the company’s nine new chargers available in the region will be free to use until November 9.

“To use the chargers, users simply download the Wenea app, available for iOS and Android, and enjoy the charging experience free of charge.

“This app can continue to be used whenever they need to charge at a Wenea charging station after November 9,” he added.

All the charge points are part of the national network.

Search online for maps and apps with live availability of all electric charging points and any tariffs that apply across Herefordshire and the rest of the UK.

Wenea is a charging service company for electric vehicles

It is deploying the largest ultra-rapid charging network across different countries, which any user can access from their mobile application.

By 2014, 12 electric vehicle charge points were installed in 11 council car parks under a grant scheme: six locations in Hereford city and one location in each of the five market towns.

Prior to this there were no publicly available charge points in the county.