Wandsworth is leading the way on electric vehicles in London, with the announcement of a £400,000 contract to roll out more charging points.

Sockets are going to be installed in about 250 street lights across the borough, with electronics giant Siemens carrying out the work.

The council is hoping to have 900 on-street points in total; no other London borough is committing to electric vehicle infrastructure on such a scale.

Sockets have already been installed in some lamp posts where residents asked for them, and the new tranche will be paid for with central government funding.

A pilot scheme covering parts of Putney and Battersea will mean every street light in each area will have a socket for charging vehicles.

If the scheme goes well, other residential areas could be upgraded soon afterwards.

Transport and environment spokesman Cllr Jonathan Cook said: “Here in Wandsworth we are determined to be well ahead of the game in supporting our residents and businesses who choose to make the switch to electric.

“By creating such an extensive network of charging points we aim to remove one of the biggest hurdles facing people thinking about the feasibility of changing from petrol and diesel to electric.

“Ours is an ambitious programme which has the potential to achieve a real improvement in air quality.

“We’ve already done a lot to tackle pollution in Wandsworth and this investment will help us do even more.”

The borough already has one of the highest take-up rates for electric vehicles in London.

In 2015, just 127 Wandsworth residents had bought one, but that number has risen to about 600 today, rising by about 10 per cent every three months.

It is hoped that this trend, coupled with the new infrastructure, could mean that by 2025 the number will be approaching 10,000.