Council seizes 42 Lime bikes blocking pavements

By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has seized 42 dockless e-bikes in just one week after revealing it is still receiving daily complaints about them blocking pavements.

Wandsworth council said e-bike hire operator Lime had taken insufficient action to tackle the issue despite its crackdown on the company last year.

The council said e-bikes block routes in the borough daily and cause “serious obstructions” for residents – making journeys more difficult for people with disabilities and buggies.

The authority has called on Lime again to do more to keep the borough’s pavements clear.

The council began impounding Lime e-bikes in November last year for blocking walkways across the borough.

Labour council leader Simon Hogg raised the problems in a letter to the chief executive of Lime, Wayne Ting, at the time, calling for the company to take more action “urgently” – including imposing heavier penalties on those who leave e-bikes in poor locations.

But the council said “insufficient action” had been taken by Lime to resolve the issue.

Councillor Hogg said the authority wants to work with Lime and other e-bike operators to create a “safe and fair system” and called the e-bikes a convenient and sustainable way to travel around the borough.

But he warned: “Wandsworth council will continue to take firm action on Lime Bikes that are parked inconsiderately.

“The number of bikes seized last week shows how serious a problem this is. We receive daily complaints about Lime bikes blocking pavements, and when I raised this with the company last year they said they would be taking steps to solve this problem.

“Unfortunately the actions they have taken have not ensured sustained improvements in the situation and removing Lime Bikes obstructing pavements continues to be necessary.

“We hope that our latest action spells out our determination to tackle this issue and sends another strong message to the bosses at Lime Bikes that they need to do more to keep Wandsworth’s pavements clear.”

A Lime spokesman said: “Riders of hired bikes should always ensure they park safely and responsibly. Lime provides training to our users about parking and takes action against riders who ‘mispark’. We also commit to the removal of any wrongly parked e-bike within a short time frame.

Pictured top: Some of the impounded Lime e-bikes seized by Wandsworth council (Picture: Wandsworth council)