The University of Worcester's Severn Campus has become one of the largest electric vehicle charging parks in Europe.

The car park, which has been installed with 100 charging points on Hylton Road is open for use by both the general public and the university community.

With easy access to the university's campuses at St John’s and in the city, as well as the city centre, the installed chargers also promise convenience for Christmas shoppers.

To use the charging ports, drivers can pay for the parking and separately for the electricity through an app or contactless payment at the charger.

Six of the charging points are 50 KWh rapid chargers, and there are also 200 standard car parking spaces available at the site.

The development of the Severn Campus into a charging hub was made possible by a £3m award from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, as part of the Government’s Getting Building Fund, which assigned Worcestershire £12m.

Dr Tim Jones, the university’s pro vice chancellor for students, said: "We’re committed to encouraging and inspiring more sustainable solutions among our University community and beyond.

“We’re really keen that the public should benefit from and make use of these forward-thinking facilities as much as University students and staff.

"As Severn Campus sits on the outskirts of the City centre, this will also reduce the volume of traffic heading into the City centre."

Councillor Zoe Cookson, vice chair of Worcester City Council’s Environment Committee, said: "The City Council adopted a new EV charging strategy in June, with the aim of making it easier for Worcester people to charge electric vehicles and we are pleased to see the University and LEP’s investment complement that of our own at St Martin’s Gate and King’s Street car parks."

Danny Brothwell, chair of Bike Worcester, added: "It is great to see the University embracing and supporting more sustainable forms of transport in the City.

"The University's new green infrastructure on this campus, including the new footway and cycleway linking St John's and Hylton Road, means the University is also promoting active travel."