UP to 12 new electric car charging points are on the way to Worcestershire - after the county was handed a £450,000 cash injection.

The Department for Transport has given County Hall a grant in a bid to encourage more motorists to buy the environmentally-friendly cars.

The vehicles, which are slowly growing in popularity, do not require fuel and are ran purely on electricity.

Bosses are currently considering the best locations for the charging points so they are well-used.

A spokesman said: “We are currently looking at details of the offer and plan to work up a detailed business case which will focus upon strategic locations for up to 12 rapid chargepoints.

“We will be working closely with neighbouring authorities as plans develop.”

The investment will build on the 10 electric chargers in the county, one of which is at County Hall.

All 10 take four hours to fully charge up a car, but the new ones will allow it to be complete in around 30 minutes.

It follows concern nationally that not enough people are using the electric points.

Figures obtained by BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme shows councils across the UK had spent more than £7.2 million on charging points for electric cars over the last three years.

But one in six councils had at least one point not used once at all over the past year and less than a third of authorities had a charging point being used on average more than once a week.

A Department for Transport spokesman added: "The Government is putting serious investment into the UK low emissions vehicles sector, including for electric cars.

“Our goal is to ensure that the automotive industry in the UK can build on its recent success with clear support for investment in research and development and continue to make a major contribution to tackling the challenges of 21st century motoring.”