Westminster Council has launched a crackdown on e-bikes parked dangerously in central London.
Trained City Inspectors seized dockless bikes that blocked pavements, crossings, and pedestrian access routes across the capital’s busiest borough.
Previously, the council had relied on fines to punish operators for e-bikes that posed a risk to highway users.
Now, the council has upped measures and will seize, store, and recover costs from operators.
Seized bikes will be transported to a council storage facility where operators will be required to pay a removal cost before the bikes are reuturned.
The Standard was invited to join Westminster Council’s enforcement team as they used existing highway powers to clamp down on the dangerously parked e-bikes.
Dozens of bikes were wheeled away and loaded onto trucks by city inspectors, who took photos of the bikes and recorded their locations.
Many of the bikes were blocking zebra crossings or entirely covering up the pavement. Other e-bikes were sprawled across the floor after being knocked over, blocking roads and access for vehicles.
Westminster Councillor Caroline Sargent, deputy leader for enforcement, told the Standard: “We’ve seen swarms of them parked in some hotspots around the city, and it’s just becoming unmanageable. It’s a bit like an obstacle course now.
“You see women, parents with children, carers with children in strollers having to go out into the road, putting themselves and their child in danger in order to get past the bikes.”
She added that while the council is keen on encouraging Londoners to cycle, they want people to be “more considerate and thoughtful” about where bikes are being “dumped”.
There are currently four dockless bike operators in Westminster borough, including Lime and Forest.
The council struck up a deal with Lime earlier this month that will see the e-bike rental company share live information on the location of its bikes across the borough.
Riders who repeatedly leave bikes outside designated parking areas are more likely to face escalating penalties or be banned from the platform.
The crackdown has already been implemented in the neighbouring borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
