It follows a report, commissioned by the council and funded by the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and part of the Bristol Smart City Programme, which recommended ways in which the city could cut energy usage and promote more environmentally friendly transport.

The EC funding will be split between two projects. The first will support the city’s growing network of public charging points with web-based tools giving locations, availability and information about links to public transport. Money will also be put towards monitoring energy usage in public buildings, such as schools, working with international partners including IBM and CISCO.

Climate change specialist Dr Chris Tuppen, who wrote the report, said: ‘Smart cities will rely on high quality information streams which are used for everything from effective energy management to integrated transport systems.

‘This data will also need to be presented to users in simple and engaging ways. This new funding will help Bristol develop the necessary systems and help it on its path to becoming one of Europe's leading smart cities.’

Work on the projects will begin in the new year.