London councils seize over 3,000 hire ebikes this year amid pavement clutter complaints

London borough councils have seized more than 3,000 hazardously parked or abandoned hire ebikes so far this year, according to a Guardian investigation, as pressure mounts on rental companies to stop bikes cluttering pavements and roads.

Data obtained from 19 reporting authorities via a freedom of information request showed 3,393 seizures so far this year, a 23% increase on the total for all of 2025. Lime, the California-based operator and London's largest dockless ebike provider, accounted for more than 2,000 of the seizures. Forest followed with 978, and Voi with 103.

Dockless ebikes have grown rapidly in popularity as a cheaper, greener transport option, with Transport for London estimating they account for one in 10 of the capital's 1.5m daily cycle trips.

Campaigners say operators must do more to stop bikes piling up on pavements. A representative of Living Streets said irresponsibly parked ebikes stop people walking and wheeling safely. The Royal National Institute of Blind People said abandoned bikes were causing collisions and injuries for blind, partially sighted, elderly and wheelchair users, with some now avoiding going out alone.

Of the 21 boroughs surveyed, nine said they neither seize bikes nor fine operators. A Camden councillor described swarms of ebikes clustering around Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath during the recent solar eclipse, blocking traffic and resident parking bays.

Operators argue councils have failed to build enough dedicated parking bays, while councils complain of a lack of London-wide regulation, describing the current patchwork of borough policies as a "jigsaw puzzle". An English devolution bill passed in April gives local authorities new powers to license ebike operators, and in London these powers will pass to Transport for London, which is expected to create a single regulatory framework. Lime said parking infrastructure had not kept pace with rising demand for its service.