Northamptonshire Police shows fate of e-scooters used on roads

The Northamptonshire Police video shows e-scooters arriving at a recycling plant

A police force has released a video showing e-scooters being crushed as a warning to people who ride them on public roads.

Northamptonshire Police said officers had received several complaints from the public about privately-owned e-scooters being driven dangerously.

The force said the vehicles can only be used on private roads.

Approved e-scooters have been available to hire under council run schemes since 2020.

The confiscated e-scooters are shown being transported by fork lift truck

The video shows some e-scooters being transported by fork lift truck and then lined up to be grabbed by a mechanical claw, which lifts them on to a pile of scrap metal.

The metal is then sent through a machine and shredded.

The force said it had been cracking down on people riding private e-scooters in public places and had seized and destroyed several.

Matt O'Connell, Northamptonshire Police's safer roads team manager, said: "As the popularity of e-scooters has increased, Northamptonshire Police has had a lot of contact from members of the public who have expressed concerns about private e-scooter riders driving dangerously around the county.

E-scooters are lined up to be grabbed by a mechanical claw

"We want to reassure the local community that we are listening to their concerns and acting upon them, and I hope this is demonstrated through this enforcement action."

The force said privately-owned e-scooters could not be used on public roads, cycle lanes or pavements.

An approved e-scooter hire scheme operated by Voi on behalf of the county's two unitary authorities has been in operation for about four years.

Electric scooters are shown on a conveyor belt up to a shredding machine

There have been calls from an industry group for a new class of powered light vehicles to be created, so 750,000 privately-owned e-scooters that are in use across the UK can be legally used and regulated.

There have also been calls for them to be banned everywhere apart from on private land.

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety has recorded 32 deaths involving e-scooters since 2019.