Illegal e-bikes used by gangs to snatch mobiles

City of London Police says phone snatching reached a record high in the summer of 2022

"This is almost like a motorbike, look at the size of it!"

Sgt Stu Ford, who leads the cycle response unit at City of London Police, is showing us some of the illegal e-scooters and e-bikes they have seized over the past few days.

The devices have been illegally converted to have a motor greater than 250 watts, often using kits bought online for several hundred pounds.

It means that instead of reaching top speeds of 15.5 mph (25km/h), some have been clocked on London's roads doing double that.

Sgt Stu Ford says the cycling response unit is seizing about five illegal e-bikes and e-scooters a week

"They're highly illegal, and they're really heavy," Sgt Ford explains, as he demonstrates by lifting one up. "This probably weighs a good 30 kilos, and if that hits you at 25mph, it's like a motorbike hitting you, so they're really dangerous.

"We've even had a unicycle version, which looks like a great big motorbike wheel, without the rest of the motorbike, and you stand either side of it and lean. It goes up to 60mph, and we've seized two or three of them."

City of London Police says officers been seizing about five of the illegal e-bikes and e-scooters a week, with those caught riding them facing a £300 fine.

Police say this modified unicycle can hit 60mph

'Sticky gloves'

They are also proving popular with phone snatchers, looking to make a quick getaway.

"These are organised, often gangs, of cyclists that will come in and snatch phones. They even have adapted sticky gloves to be able to grab the phones easily," says Sgt Ford.

In the summer of 2022, the force recorded a steep rise in reported phone snatching offences, hitting a record high of 143 in July.

City of London Police's cycle response unit has been brought back to help target phone snatchers

To tackle it, the force reintroduced its cycle response unit, which it says was disbanded in 2011.

Sgt Ford says the unit's officers deploy to hotspot areas, which often deters thieves, and are able to pursue suspects through areas that are not accessible to vehicles.

Figures for past year show the number of recorded phone snatching offences fell by 11% compared with the year before.

The officers also speak to members of the public, advising them about phone thieves operating in the area.

"If you need to use your phone, just duck into a doorway," Sgt Ford suggests to one couple.

He points out the steady stream of people walking along the street, heads down, with their phones in their hands.

"We all do it," he adds.

Delivery drivers' bikes seized

The force is also concerned about another group of people who are using illegal e-bikes and e-scooters.

Among those seized by police, we spot an e-bike with Just Eat branding on it.

Sgt Ford explains many of the riders they have stopped tell them they are delivery drivers.

"The delivery drivers are using them because they haven't got to pay for the insurance and licences and tests to ride a moped, when they can go and buy a fairly cheap bicycle, and then go and buy a kit for £300-£400, get it fixed on to the bicycle, and they'll go 30mph plus."

Riders of illegal e-bikes face having them seized and a £300 fine

He says the force is trying to engage with the delivery companies to take more action.

Just Eat said in a statement that the safety of couriers and the public was "a key priority" and that all couriers must follow the law.

“We take a zero-tolerance approach to illegal vehicle use and if we are ever made aware that a courier delivering on our behalf has acted in a way that does not uphold the standards we hope to deliver, we do not hesitate in taking action, which could include revoking the courier from our network.”

Sgt Ford says there is much more work to do to take dangerous e-bikes and e-scooters off the road.

"But we hope the more we seize, the more the message will be out there," he adds.