Nottinghamshire councillors have backed a call for local authorities to have more involvement in tackling illegal e-bikes and e-scooters.
Illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been a growing topic of debate in recent years as more and more of the vehicles grace the country’s streets and walkways.
In the UK, private e-bikes are legal on public land as long as they are ridden by somebody over 14 years of age, have pedals that work to propel them, are not powered by the motor if travelling faster than 15.5mph and do not have a “continuous rated power output” of more than 250 watts. They also do not need to be registered, taxed or insured.
Private e-scooters are classed as motor vehicles, cannot be insured and are illegal to ride on land which is not private, including roads, pavements and parks. The maximum speed for one is also 15.5mph, and government data estimates there are around 1.2 million in the UK – the majority being used illegally.
Police force crackdowns on these illegal vehicles are growing, with data obtained through FOI requests recently revealing that 7,049 e-bikes were seized in the UK in the 12 months to May 19, compared with 3,858 in the same period before – an 83 per cent rise.
The calls for tighter control over these vehicles have continued, with Nottinghamshire County Councillors voting unanimously on Thursday (September 24) to establish a multi-agency ‘task force’ to tackle the “menace” of the vehicles, while calling for “ambiguity” over the police’s handling of them to be removed.
Conservative councillor Keith Girling introduced a motion requesting that Nottinghamshire Police and the area’s Crime Commissioner use their full and consistent powers to seize the illegal vehicles, that key hotspot data be conveyed, that relevant agencies “identify and act” on retailers, importers and suppliers of non-compliant vehicles, and that the council write to the government to review whether its current penalties and framework for them are a “sufficient deterrent”.
Cllr Girling said: “Residents are telling me about e-bikes and e-scooters being ridden at excessive speeds on pavements, through pedestrian areas, parks and playing fields.
“And for some residents, particularly elderly people, people with disabilities and parents with young children, it isn’t simply annoying, it’s intimidation… They should not have to worry about being knocked down when walking through their local town.”
The motion comes after Nottinghamshire Police’s Operation Wrangel to crack down on illegal electric bikes and scooters was launched in November 2025.
Since then, the force has seized more than 60 e-bikes, one of which was found to be capable of reaching speeds of up to 72mph.
Cllr Girling continued: “Imagine being hit by that.
“This is not a bicycle being used in an ordinary sense; this is an illegal motor vehicle capable of travelling at motorway speeds.”
Cllr Mike Robertson (Ref), along with Cllr Richard Darrington (Ref), proposed an amendment to Cllr Girling’s motion to “strengthen” the county’s approach.
Cllr Robertson proposed that a multi-agency ‘task force’ be set up to include borough and district councils, the County Council, Nottinghamshire Police and other stakeholders to tackle the “menace” of illegal vehicles, but also proposed “empowering” the police by “removing the ambiguity” from its seizure framework.
He said: “I’ve not met a police officer who can look at an e-scooter or an e-bike and say, ‘That’s 250 watts, that’s 15.5 miles per hour’ – they can’t do it, so they have to sink a huge amount of resources into getting a task force out onto the street, stop people and then test the bikes before they can then enforce against it.
“These should be managed exactly like any other motor-powered vehicle.
“If they’re on the public highway, they should be registered, they should be taxed, they should be insured and the operator should be appropriately aged and appropriately licensed as per the DVSA requirements right now – that would stop it in its tracks.”
Cllr Neil Clarke (Con) recounted his experience of watching an e-scooter travelling at more than 30mph mount a pavement to avoid traffic on the road he was travelling on and called for them to have registration plates to better identify the vehicle and owner.
The use of illegal bikes and scooters was called a “fast-growing epidemic” by Cllr Darrington, who said residents need a “solid platform” on which they can report the illegal use of these vehicles, whether it be a phone number or an email address.
The debate around these illegal vehicles is separate from controlled electric vehicle operators.
Dott, the company responsible for the city’s e-scooters, introduced its first e-bikes on July 17 as a rival to operator Lime, which has provided the main cohort since 2023.
Nottingham City Council, which works with the operators, specifies that both Dott and Lime are only permitted a maximum of 1,300 vehicles, scooters or bikes, in the city.
By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter
