E-bike hire scheme withdrawal 'a mess' - councillor

The e-bikes will be operated by Beryl on the Dorset Council's behalf

A councillor has described the withdrawal of an e-bike hire scheme in east Dorset six months after it was launched as "a mess".

Dorset councillor Ray Bryan, who oversaw the original contract, said it was bad publicity to see the scheme come to an end, weeks after the council had finished spending millions of pounds on new cycleways in the area.

The project offered 122 Beryl Bikes, operating from 47 bays across Wimborne, Colehill, West Parley, West Moors and Ferndown.

Dorset Council said not enough people were renting the bikes, with many choosing to ride their own instead.

The scheme was paid for with £240,000 from a Community Infrastructure Levy fund and £23,000 from a Transforming Cities fund, plus £224,000 from Beryl Bikes.

In November 2024, Beryl Bikes told the council at the three-year break point in the contract it would be pulling out of the area because it was "not viable".

Deputy council leader Richard Biggs was at the launch of the Beryl Bikes scheme for Portland, Weymouth and Dorchester

Mr Bryan said: "I can't tell you how damaging this has been in the east Dorset area.

"People can't understand why this council has spent millions on providing cycleways and, within weeks of us having finished the cycleways, Beryl withdrew the service."

He said Dorset Council was wrong to rely on information from Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) about the viability of the scheme and should have carried out its own checks.

Councillors were told that, while the company looked at population figures, the age profile of the area appeared not to have been investigated.

The area has one of the highest elderly populations in the country, while the bike scheme users are predominantly under 40.

Wimborne councillor Shane Bartlett said the Beryl Bikes decision had been "hugely disappointing" and had not helped commuters.