London e-scooters used to identify potholes

The scooters have smaller wheels than motor vehicles and bicycles, meaning they are more vulnerable to potholes

An e-scooter operator has been recording potholes in what it says is a bid to boost safety for riders.

Dott said it had fitted sensors to some of its rental e-scooters in London to gather road surface data, collected over a distance of 2,000 miles.

The sensors detect road roughness and changes in the behaviour of riders such as extreme braking and swerving.

One Londoner was killed and another seriously injured in July after rental e-scooters were introduced in London.

Although rental e-scooters are allowed in eight London boroughs as part of the year-long trial, private e-scooters cannot legally be used on public land. Last week, the Met Police said it had seized more than 3,500 private e-scooters.

• When and where can I ride an e-scooter legally?

The wider use of scooters has been criticised by groups including the National Federation of the Blind UK, which branded them "absolutely terrifying".

Pothole danger areas identified as part of the 10-week trial in London have been shared with authorities responsible for maintaining those roads, according to Dott co-founder Maxim Romain.

He said the results of the trial delivered "valuable learnings to create smart cities which are safer and more pleasant for all residents".

The Living Streets walking group has previously expressed concerns about the speed of e-scooters and about people using them while drunk.

Department for Transport statistics show three e-scooter riders were killed and a further 729 were injured in crashes in Britain during the year ending June.

It is not known how many of the crashes were due to poor road surfaces.

• Charity calls for ban on sales of e-scooters

• Customers exploited over e-scooters, police warn

Research figures from the RAC revealed that the proportion of pothole-related breakdowns between July and September was the highest for that three-month period since 2006.

The firm dealt with 1,810 callouts for broken suspension springs, distorted wheels and damaged shock absorbers, which represented 1.2% of all incidents.

Private e-scooters are banned from public roads and pavements in the UK, but Dott is one of several operators involved in government-backed trials of rental e-scooters.