City of York Council is backing a bid that could make Yorkshire a centre for electric cars.

CO2Sense Yorkshire, the business development programme owned by Yorkshire Forward, aims to set up a network of 800 charge points across York, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and the rest of the county which would allow drivers of electric vehicles to “fill-up” once at their destination. It is bidding for a share of £30 million of Government money designed to encourage people to make the shift from petrol to electric.

Ruth Stephenson, head of transport planning at City of York Council, said: “City of York Council is delighted to be supporting the Plugged In Places bid. We already have a low emission champion role within the Leeds City Region and the progression of this bid will help us and other local authorities move forward with realising reductions in emissions.”