THE number of public electric vehicle chargers drivers had access to in Bradford rose by nearly a third last year, according to new figures.

Department for Transport figures show there were 208 public electric car chargers in Bradford as of July - up from 161 the year before.

It means the number of public chargers increased by 29 per cent over the last year.

Of the chargers installed in Bradford, 82 were rapid chargers.

The Government set a target of installing 300,000 public electric chargers by 2030, meaning around 3,600 chargers must be installed across the UK per month.

Nationally, 65,000 chargers had been installed as of July – a rise of 47 per cent on the year before.

It means the Government is on track to meet its 2030 target.

But the RAC said areas currently poorly served need to be prioritised, with some places having more than 1,000 chargers per 100,000 people and others having fewer than 30 per 100,000.

There were 38 public chargers per 100,000 people in Bradford.

A Government spokesperson said: "We are committed to accelerating the rollout of charge-points across the UK.

"And we want to go further and faster right across the country, giving drivers the confidence to make the move to zero-emission vehicles."