More e-scooters seized as riders flout law

Derby City Council's e-scooter trial ended in January

Police are getting tougher on e-scooters by seizing more vehicles in one county.

Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts, who was elected police and crime commissioner for Derbyshire in May, said she had been working with Derbyshire Police to make e-scooter enforcement “more robust”.

Since the start of November, the force seized e-scooters “immediately” off the streets if they were seen by officers in public places, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The force said it had seized 10 vehicles since the new approach, compared to a monthly average of 13 this year.

'Terrifying pedestrians'

Using e-scooters on public roads is illegal unless they are hired as part of a government approved scheme.

Derby City Council ran an e-scooter trial scheme that made some e-scooters legal to ride, but this was stopped in January after an American company pulled out.

In the last two years, the force said it had received 509 calls relating to anti-social behaviour involving e-scooters, and 441 reports of them being ridden dangerously.

Supt James Thompson said officers "took the pragmatic approach of warning people that they were breaking the law" as there was "the potential for confusion due to the trial scheme being run in Derby".

"Since the trial scheme stopped earlier this year, that confusion has now ended, and if you are riding an e-scooter in public, then you are committing an offence," he said.

E-scooter safety campaigner Sarah Gayton, from the UK’s National Federation of the Blind, welcomed the force's new stance, adding it should publish data regularly to show if the new approach is working or not.

"We hope other police forces will be inspired to take this action," she said.

"E-scooter riders are terrifying pedestrians.

"There are still a lot of hidden dangers of people getting hurt and them not being reported."