Electric vehicle charging points looks set to be finally switched on in SKDC-run car parks a month from now.

The long-awaited move from South Kesteven District Council has been "affected 100 per cent" by the pandemic after they were due to be connected the day after lockdown started in March.

The council will have EV charging points at in Welham Street Grantham; North Street, Stamford, Market Square, Market Deeping and Burley Street, Bourne.

SKDC's Cabinet Member for Commercial and Operations, Coun Dr Peter Moseley, told Nub News: "Western Power were to do their connecting at all our charging points the day after Boris locked us down. Lockdown has affected us since then. We have had to manage when we could get everything done

"We are just waiting for metering and safety certification. We hope that they will have this operational by the end of October."

However, with talks of a further lockdown, the switch-on may be delayed even further.

Coun Moseley said: "It really depends on whatever happens virus wise. There are so many factors affecting us now but its great news that we are getting there."

Coun Dr Moseley managed to secure underspends and efficiencies in street scene to start the project, and secured £45k of government funding to complete the project.

The existing purchasing frameworks [umbrella agreements negotiated with suppliers on behalf of the public sector] did not provide the value for money that we wanted, and so we decided to go through the procurement process to get this done. It takes longer, but in the long term, over a 5 year contract, it gives us much better value.

Tenders were invited in August 2019, with a five-year contract to run them starting in October. "We have used savings within my portfolio, and successfully secured £45k of government grants to deliver this. It's one of those things that means a lot to me."

"It's going to be great to see our residents and visitors 'charge-up' in town, and having this infrastructure makes South Kesteven a great stopping point for motorists moving up and down the A1! Being a couple of hours from London, we are now a charging destination on route to York or beyond".

This is the fifth in a series of articles to mark Recycle Week 2020.