A two-year £1.3m project to install at least 25 electric vehicle charge points for public use in car parks across Devon begins this month.

Once complete the Devon Low-carbon Energy & Transport Technology Innovator (DELETTI) programme will prevent more than 300 tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere every year.

The project follows Devon County Council securing a grant of £817,712 from the European Regional Development Fund.

The project is being led by Devon County Council in partnership with East Devon District Council (EDDC) and is scheduled to be complete by December 2021.

The charge points will be installed in key carparks in Devon's largest communities.

These include Sidmouth, Honiton and Exmouth.

The charge points themselves will be powered by renewable energy. These could be in the form of solar carports - solar panels mounted on frames to enable cars to park underneath and recharge is one possibility.

In July DCC announced a project to deliver 150 new charge points in Exeter through the StreetHubz project. StreetHubz is private-sector led project by Zapinamo and Gamma Energy.

Devon is the fourth largest county in the UK but there is currently only 30 publicly accessible charge points in Devon .

Once both schemes are completed the number of public charge points in Devon would increase fivefold.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment said: "The government has committed to banning the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040, but long before that we want more people to start using electric vehicles.

"It's been difficult to encourage more people to use electric cars until there are more charging points, and more charging points won't be provided until there are more electric cars on the road.

"This partnership with the district councils helps break that cycle. Fewer petrol and diesal cars will lead to a reduction in emissions, cleaner air and an improved quality of life for residents."

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC's Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: "We are delighted to be an active partner in the County Council led Devon Low-carbon Energy & Transport Technology Innovator (DELETTI) programme.

"The £800,000 plus grant funding will prevent more than 300 tonnes of carbon from entering our atmosphere every year and that aligns perfectly with our own emerging climate change action plan.

"The project will initially deliver charge points in East Devon car parks in Exmouth, Honiton, Sidmouth and Seaton and we are particularly pleased to announce that the charge points themselves will be powered by renewable energy."