Record 2,500 e-bikes and e-scooters seized by Met

More than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been seized by the Metropolitan Police so far in 2026 – more than the number seized during the whole of last year.

The record figures come as the force continues to crack down on the two-wheelers in a bid to improve road safety and cut crimes such as phone thefts.

It is illegal to ride privately owned e-scooters on public roads in the UK, while e-bikes must meet certain requirements.

Cdr Neerav Patel, who leads the Met's crackdown on e-bikes, said that by combining new technology with "an intelligence-led approach to precisely target hotspot areas, we have cleared thousands of two-wheelers from our streets and crushed them".

Last year, 2,241 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters were seized by police in the capital.

Officers can pull over bikes they suspect to be illegal with common giveaways being speed, the use of throttles that enable users to travel at speed without pedalling and large batteries.

On Friday, 29 e-bikes and seven e-scooters were seized near Tottenham Court Road Station after officers set up a stop-site to test modified vehicles.

It marked the seventh such operation in London this year, with five more scheduled through the summer.

The Met is one of two police forces in the country, alongside Nottinghamshire, to deploy new portable roadside testing dyno kits.

The "rolling roads" allow officers to check if an e-bike has been illegally modified to go faster than 15.5mph (25km/h).

Some of the bikes seized by the Met have recorded speeds in excess of 27mph (43km/h).

The force said its operation was helping to drive down local crime, with neighbourhood offences down 14% in the 12 months to June, compared with the previous year – the equivalent of 35,000 fewer reported offences.

It said this included reductions in theft from the person (down 23%) and personal robbery (down 11%) – which offenders frequently use illegal e-bikes and mopeds to commit.

Cdr Patel added: "We recognise that the use of e-bikes [can be] perfectly legitimate, but there are a vast number of people intent on using e-bikes for criminal and anti-social uses. We know that e-bikes are used in phone snatches, particularly in this part of London."