DRIVERS have long been encouraged to “put a tiger in their tank”. But now a Northumberland holiday park is hoping passing motorists and visitors will instead let a tiger help them fill their tank – with electricity.

The Haven holidays-owned Haggerston Castle, near Berwick, have teamed up with One North East to install a new “rapid charger” which is capable of refuelling one of the new breed of electric cars in only 20 minutes. That could open the door for eco-conscious tourists to make the 80-mile journey from Edinburgh to Newcastle, or encourage more visitors to the region’s tourist attractions.

And to promote the initiative, the park is offering “fuel” for the first year of the scheme.

Daniel Coward, environmental consultant to Haven, said he believed the new “plug point” was a first for the UK holiday industry.

“I’m absolutely delighted that Haggerston Castle has been chosen as a site for the quick charger,” he said.

“We want to do everything we can to encourage people to shun gas-guzzling transport in favour of carbon neutral travel around the region.

“Travelling from Newcastle to Edinburgh for electric vehicles is an 80-mile trip, which is cutting it fine for a single charge.

“And possibly the charging points people have seen so far being installed in car parks are trickle chargers that can take up to six hours.

“But ours does it in 20 minutes. It’s more like going to a petrol station and while you wait you can go and get a coffee or read a paper.