Firm offers free e-scooter rides to voters

The e-scooters will be available for two 15-minute journeys

Voters in parts of Gloucestershire have been offered free e-scooter rides to get to polling stations for the local elections

Voi, which has rental e-scooters and e-bikes in parts of the country including in Gloucester and Cheltenham, is allowing people two free 15-minute rides on Thursday 2 May.

The firm said it wants to encourage voters, including younger people, to participate in local democracy.

Both Gloucester and Cheltenham have local elections this year, as well as Gloucestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner. Polling stations are open from 07:00 BST to 22:00.

The free rides, accessible by a code, are also available in other areas, including Liverpool, Cambridge , Oxford, Southampton and Northamptonshire, where the scooters are used.

More than 32 million rides have been made since trials started in July 2020, Voi said.

"We want to encourage people to vote and take part in the whole democratic process," Juliette Maxam of Voi.

She said their riders across the country had told the firm they wanted "better quality roads, fewer potholes and better cycle lanes so that it is safer for them, cyclists and pedestrians".