Lime and Forest e-bikes seized for blocking pavements - and released after firms pay £25,000 in fines

More than 100 Lime and Forest e-bikes that were blocking pavements successful cardinal London person been seized by assembly officials.

The City of London Corporation, the section authorization for the City’s “Square Mile” fiscal area, seized the bikes and charged the firms a interest of £235 per motorcycle earlier allowing them to beryllium recovered.

It said much than 100 of the dockless bikes were removed from the streets implicit a two-week play due to the fact that they had been near successful areas wherever they caused an obstruction oregon presented an “immediate information to others”.

This means the dockless bikes firms volition person been fined successful the portion of £25,000 to get their bikes back.

It is the latest contention to deed the dockless motorcycle industry, which has seen a immense maturation successful the usage of hired e-bikes successful London amid calls for the instauration of Londonwide rules to curb their numbers and tackle anti-social parking.

According to the City corporation, the crackdown was taken “to promote prosecute operators to negociate their ain fleet and customers to comply with bully parking behaviour”.

The bikes were stored successful a harmless determination for 24 hours, earlier Lime and Forest were capable to cod them aft paying the £235 merchandise fee, which covered the City’s outgo of removal and storage.

The City corp already provides designated bays wherever e-bikes tin beryllium parked, specified arsenic successful erstwhile car parking bays successful Finsbury Square.

It has added 300 much designated parking spaces crossed the Square Mile.

But the sheer fig of e-bikes being made disposable for prosecute – Lime is thought to person a fleet of 25,000 to 30,000 bikes and Forest of astir 15,000 bikes – means galore are dumped connected the pavement.

City officials said it launched the crackdown successful effect to the standard of complaints it was receiving astir dumped e-bikes.

Lime has offered to money caller parking bays successful the City done its parking infrastructure fund.

Mr Joshi, seat of the City’s readying and proscription committee, said: “I precocious met with the CEO of Lime, on with their CFO and UK Director which provided an accidental to guarantee their planetary elder enactment afloat understands the impact.

“Lime has seen singular occurrence and with 16 cardinal journeys taken (including by me!) during London’s commuting hours successful 2024, their beingness connected the streets is undeniable, but truthful excessively are the challenges posed by bikes cluttering our pavements.

“The enactment program from Lime is invited news, peculiarly a funded programme that helps guarantee we tin proceed to spot dockless bikes connected London’s streets without causing disruption and obstacles to others.

“Alongside this, we volition support up the unit to marque definite results are quantified and meaningful, alongside Transport for London and London Councils.”

Lime is making £5m disposable to London boroughs to make 2,500 designated motorcycle parking bays.

It has besides pledged to beef up its in-house motorcycle warden squads and volition purpose to determination badly-parked bikes earlier complaints are received.

TfL commissioner Mr Lord, speaking to The Standard past week astir plans to modulate dockless e-bikes, said: “We person got to person amended co-ordination astir however bikes are parked.

“We request to marque definite they are not near successful the mode of pedestrians – and determination is exertion [that tin assistance america bash that].

“Lime are committing to enactment immoderate other wealth into improving information and their effect to removing bikes that are inappropriately parked.

“Greater co-ordination, moving with the boroughs, we person got a wide presumption that we privation progressive question and cycling to proceed to grow, but we request to bash it successful a mode that isn’t causing issues for different roadworthy users and pavement users.

“We got a precise wide presumption from the CEO of Lime that that is simply a precedence for them.”

Asked if helium wanted to clasp dockless e-bikes for prosecute successful London, Mr Lord added: “I deliberation dockless bikes person got a portion to play.

“Clearly we [TfL] are an relation ourselves, truthful we can’t get into commercialized issues, but I deliberation determination is simply a relation for dockless bikes to play.

“But we request to amended the co-ordination and the quality for them to beryllium parked successful a mode that doesn’t origin aggravation and accessibility issues.”

Lime and Forest person been approached for comment.