E-scooters should be legalised on the roads but not on pavements, according to the Transport Select Committee.

The Committee said that e-scooters offered a ‘greener’ alternative to vehicles. Currently, privately-owned e-scooters are banned to use in the UK anywhere except on private land.

A number of trials of rented e-scooters are taking place across the UK at the moment. The Transport Committee said the government should use trials to monitor the numbers and types of collisions that take place. It believes that riding on pavements though, is ‘dangerous and anti-social’ and the law should ‘prohibit their use on pavements’, with ‘robust’ enforcement needed.

The Committee also said the Department for Transport should monitor the impact of the process around recharging batteries used for e-scooters-and also recommended that local authorities should be able to determine the speed of e-scooters and encouraging users to wear helmets.

Huw Merriman, Chair of the Transport Select Committee said: “E-scooters have the potential to become an exciting and ingenious way to navigate our streets and get from place to place. If this gets people out of the car, reducing congestion and exercising in the open air, then even better. We need to ensure that their arrival on our streets doesn’t make life more difficult for pedestrians, and especially disabled people.”