60 electric car chargers go in

Westminster council is putting in 10 roadside posts following a trial of two in Covent Garden. About another 50 will be installed in 13 of its car parks.

Alan Bradley, Westminster's cabinet member for street environment, said: "We are leading the way in encouraging greener forms of car travel which will help minimize our impact on the environment. We want to make it as practical and convenient as possible for people to use electric cars, so having charging points easily available on streets is an essential move."

There are more than 900 owners of a G-Wiz electric car in London. The Nice car company sells the electric MEGA City and the three-wheel ZAP Xebra was launched.

Each charging post installed by Westminster costs £3,000, funded by Transport for London, the Energy Savings Trust and EDF Energy.

Users have to register with the council and pay a one-off fee to cover administration costs after which charging is free.