THE number of electric car charging points in the borough could more than double by the end of the year.

The Conservatives are calling for them to be increased from the current seven to 20 – with a minimum of one per ward before January 2019.

The party’s motion — to be tabled at tonight’s full council meeting — also urges town hall chiefs to consider the serious health effects of air pollution to Bury’s residents and the need to move to a low-carbon economy

Cllr Oliver Kersh, who will second Cllr Nick Jones’ motion, said the Tories were eager to see progress on the matter.

He said: “We have not seen any additional charging points in Bury since 2015 and the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV)scheme.

“We just want some kind of tangible action to get, at the very least, one in each ward, or lower than that, every township, this year.

“We do understand that the funding is perhaps not there to be putting charging points in ourselves but we think they could be provided by Greater Manchester.

“Or we need to facilitate private enterprises to come and install these charging points if we don’t have the resources to do so and aren’t willing to ask Greater Manchester until they complete the over-arching plan for all ten boroughs.”

He added: “According to the AA eight out of ten drivers have said the lack of availability for charging points is a major obstacle for driver making the switch. If the council does want to see a low-carbon economy moving upwards will be a good place to start.”

Labour pledged in its manifesto to double the amount of electric charging points in Bury by 2025 by incorporating them in all new developments.

And despite leader Rishi Shori accusing the Tories of “recycling Labour policies”, Cllr Alan Quinn said his party would be supporting the motion in the council chamber.

He said the more ambitious proposals being put forward by the Conservatives could hopefully be funded through Transport for Greater Manchester via a £3m government pot.

But he warned that it only formed part of the solution as there are “too many cars on the road” and an affordable regulated transport system linking the Metrolink and buses was needed.

He said: “If we have an affordable public transport system then we can say to people ‘you don’t need to drive to Prestwich to park up and get the Metrolink, get it in Bury.”

He added there should be an Oyster-card style system where you ‘flash a pass’ to get on a bus, tram or train. “If it’s good enough for London, it’s good enough for Manchester,” he said.