There are more question marks about the safety of e-scooters with new figures showing that the Metropolitan Police logged 258 crashes involving private vehicles in the first six months of last year.

ITV news reports that the Metropolitan Police data was obtained by Labour’s London Assembly policing and crime spokesman Unmesh Desai, who said the widespread use of illegal e-scooters is putting Londoners “at risk of significant harm”.

Desai told ITV: “The use of illegal e-scooters on our roads and pavements is putting Londoners at risk of significant harm, especially the most vulnerable in our communities such as people with limited mobility, visual impairments and hearing loss.”

Legally, private e-scooters can only be used private land but that law is regularly flouted, and the Police in London seized more than 3,500 private e-scooters between January and November last year.

“Whilst it is concerning that these figures are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, it has been encouraging to see the scale of enforcement action taken by TfL and the Met Police so far,” Desai added.

(Picture – Metropolitan Police)