Police force seizes 450 e-scooters in a year

Cambridgeshire Police said it seized more than 450 e-scooters between April 2025 and March 2026.

It also confiscated 126 e-bikes and issued about 180 fines during the same period.

It came as compensation paid to people injured in incidents involving e-scooters and e-bikes in the UK has topped £100m over the past seven years, according to the Motor Insurers' Bureau.

PC AJ Boddington, from Cambridgeshire Police's casualty reduction team, said it was illegal to use privately owned e-scooters on public roads and riders could face a £300 fine, six penalty points and seizure of the vehicle.

"The problem is that you can't currently buy insurance for a privately owned e-scooter, which makes them unlawful to use in public," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"Even if you don't yet have a driving licence, those points will be waiting for you when you do get one," he added.

Boddington said police had also focused on education, visiting 75 schools over the past year to highlight the risks associated with e-scooters.

In the UK, privately owned e-scooters could only be used on private land. Rental e-scooters operated as part of approved trials, including Cambridge's Voi scheme, are legal.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), which oversees the Voi scheme, said there needs to be a "distinction" between the government-backed trials and illegal private e-scooters.

"The Voi trial has appropriate safety, governance and operational controls in place, which provide a much more managed and accountable approach to using these within the city," the CPCA said.

Sue Papworth, chair of the Cambridgeshire Association of Approved Driving Instructors, said: "It's alarming to see how many people are using them. I think it's a difficult problem to fix. Maybe they should be banned."

Boddington added: "They can be lawfully sold and used on private land, but people aren't buying them just for those purposes.

"It's only right that something needs to be done."

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