Electric bikes and scooters have been destroyed by police across a major region in a bid to crack down on the illegal use of greener transport methods.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary revealed it sent more than 100 e-bikes and scooters to the crusher, sending a clear message that they would not be welcome in the area.
The crackdown comes after a rise in the illegal use of privately owned bikes and scooters plaguing the region, causing a spike in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity.
In a bid to stop this last year, the Police Commissioner and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, signed a contract enabling the force the powers to destroy any e-scooter or e-motorcycle that is being used in crime.
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Police forces can seize and destroy illegal e-scooters and e-bikes
PA
Known as Operation Crush, police have seized 105 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters up from 41 in 2023 with more than 50 of the vehicles seized being e-scooters and 26 being e-bikes.
While all privately owned e-scooters are banned from roads, there has been an increase in the vehicles being used in crime, with instances of dangerous driving.
Police Sergeant Jamie Dobson, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “By using these enhanced powers to destroy these vehicles after seizing them, we are stopping these criminals from going straight back out and committing the same offences multiple times.
“The campaign was launched to crackdown on the illegal use of these vehicles, which had become increasingly popular with those committing a variety of different crimes, including those involved in drugs gangs.
“They are almost always owned by the people riding them and when we seize and destroy them they are thousands of pounds worse off.”
Dobson explained that e-bikes and off-road petrol-powered motorcycles are a “significant risk to our communities because these are often linked to more serious crime”.
In some instances, police recorded the vehicles being ridden on major routes such as the A27 and the M3 which can cause “great risks” to other road users.
According to a new report, more than 55 per cent of respondents wanted the police to do more to tackle the dangers of e-scooters.
Jones commented: “Too often we see people on privately owned e-scooters riding dangerously on roads and pavements breaking the law. I have seen a number of dangerous collisions, particularly on pavements, which have resulted in people suffering significant injuries, some of them life-changing.
“While many people use e-scooters as environmentally friendly travel, residents and road users have a right to be concerned about the dangers of privately owned e-scooters which are illegal to ride on the road and are often being used to commit crime.”
She warned that her “message is absolutely clear” Britons who use e-bikes or e-scooters illegally will have to facethe consequences and if found used by criminals and drug gangs they will be seized and destroyed.
The police also recorded several cases where e-bikes and e-scooters seized had been modified so they could propel the rider to dangerous and illegal speeds.
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The popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters has surged in recent years
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Knives and drugs were also seized alongside the vehicles last year which risk putting the lives of the riders and other road users at risk.
