East Ayrshire council bosses are considering charging drivers to use public electric car power points. 

South and North Ayrshire councils have already come forward to say the electric vehicle chargers will no longer be free in the future in those local authority areas. 

East Ayrshire has 50 public charge points – double the number in South Ayrshire. 

The Athletics Arena in Kilmarnock boasts the highest number of charging sockets in the area. 

According to ChargePlace Scotland the sports stadium power hub was the third most popular in Scotland during April. It was used 892 times by motorists. 

Councillors will be presented with a report on charge points after the summer – and will weigh up if fees will be introduced.

A council spokeswoman said: “As with the proposals for South Ayrshire Council, we are currently looking at electric vehicle charging points as part of our overall Climate Change and transport strategy for East Ayrshire. This is just part of a much wider initiative to reduce carbon footprint effectively in all aspects of life in East Ayrshire. 

“It’s one strand of a complex body of work, being carried out across all our services, which is being actively pursued by all our teams. 

“As far as Electric Vehicle Charging Points are concerned, we will be taking a paper to cabinet following the summer recess to report further on our progress.”

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by the UK government in 2030.

A third of Scottish councils have already introduced tariffs for powering up electric cars according to a North Ayrshire council paper.