A NEW electric vehicle charging facility has opened in Andover.

The new facility was installed by Fastned on Monday, January 15, and is located at the Andover Down Roundabout, in Columbus Way - within a two-minute drive from the A303.

Described as an "ultra-rapid charging facility", Fastned's EV charging point will initially offer four charging bays, with 100kW of renewable power.

Once a grid upgrade is complete, six charging bays will be available, offering up to 300kW of ultra-rapid charging, providing electric vehicles with up to 300 miles of range in 20 minutes.

Fastned operates over 270 stations across Europe, 21 of which, including Andover, are located in the UK, with charging powered by 100 per cent solar and wind energy.

On the launch of this station Tom Hurst, UK country manager at Fastned said: "I'm delighted to be opening our first charging hub in Hampshire, helping the county take a step forward in its shift to electric mobility.

"Our hub is perfectly located for those short and long journeys, and once full grid capacity is available locally, it will be able to offer ultra-rapid charging to the region - we're really excited for when this is ready."