Private e-scooters seized by Northampton Neighbourhood officers

Neighbourhood policing officers in Northampton have seized a number of e-scooters during two days of action this week.

On Wednesday and Thursday (Feb 2&3), eight officers from the Central Sector Neighbourhood Policing Team conducted enforcement against those riding private e-scooters in the town centre.

The popularity of e-scooters has grown substantially in recent years with people able to hire them in towns and cities across the world.

In Northamptonshire, e-scooter company – Voi, run a scheme which allows users to pay for scooters by the minute via an app.

However, privately owned e-scooters are not currently allowed to be ridden on public roads, cycle lanes or pavements. They can only be ridden on private land. This is because they are classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs) and are subject to all the same legal requirements as other motor vehicles.

On the first day of enforcement, officers reported 11 private e-scooter riders for driving otherwise in accordance with a licence and for driving with no insurance. Their scooters were also seized. 

As well as this, one rider was arrested on suspicion of a robbery which occurred in London.

On the second day, officers seized a further nine e-scooters as well as locating a missing person in the town centre and getting them the help they needed.

Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Matt Atkinson, said: “The Central Sector Neighbourhood Policing Team spend a lot of time patrolling the local area and will always listen to concerns raised from within the community, the misuse of these e-scooters being one of them.

“Tackling anti-social behaviour is a Force priority and officers will always look to take positive action as well as educating riders.

“The team have spent their time in the town centre in the past two days and have seized a number of e-scooters which have been driven through the busy pedestrian areas.

“Private e-scooters are currently not legal to ride on the roads and are not covered by insurance companies. I would urge anyone thinking of buying one to reconsider and if you are caught riding one you could face points and a fine.

“These past two days have seen the team spending a lot of time engaging with members of the public and local shop owners, who fully supported the operation. Many of them  approached officers throughout the day and commented on how nice it was to see us on foot in the town centre.”