{"id":621587,"date":"2025-12-09T06:11:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/621587\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T06:11:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:11:22","slug":"inside-the-mission-to-stop-illegal-e-bikes-from-whizzing-around-london-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/621587\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the mission to stop illegal e-bikes from whizzing around London | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tThe Metropolitan Police is stopping e-bikes suspected of illegal upgrades in a clampdown on dangerous cyclists and phone thieves in London (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

Police are racing through city streets on powerful e-bikes <\/a>to take down criminals using them to snatch watches, phones and bags from pedestrians.<\/p>\n

Curbing these e-bikes, which are often used by thieves to snatch phones and watches, is a priority in the new policing plan launched by the Mayor of London and Metropolitan Police today (Tuesday).<\/p>\n

The bikes can sometimes exceed 50mph as they whizz through central London<\/a>, blindsiding unsuspecting pedestrians.<\/p>\n

But they are now being pursued by Met officers on their own electric bikes to level the playing field.<\/p>\n

Metro <\/strong>joined a ride out on Friday evening to see this initiative in action as scores of officers met at Cambridge Circus on Shaftesbury Avenue.<\/p>\n

Police were stopping e-bikes suspected of having been \u2018souped up\u2019 \u2013 meaning they have been upgraded to go faster, surpassing the maximum speed of 15.5mph for an e-bike motor under UK law.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tPolice officers converged on Shaftesbury Avenue on Friday evening for a ride out to curb illegal high speed e-bikes in the capital (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tMore than 60 officers were stopping and checking e-bikes, with many of the suspect bikes belonging to delivery riders (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

The modifications\u00a0are easy to spot to the trained eye due to noticeably larger battery packs on the bike frames.<\/p>\n

However, some don\u2019t need to be modified as they are manufactured to be faster and sold as such in online market places.<\/p>\n

The police stopped dozens of suspect bikes \u2013 many from delivery riders. Experts inspected the bikes to assess\u00a0whether they are legal, and police confiscated 16 of them.<\/p>\n

Those seized were loaded into a lorry and many will later be crushed. One person stopped was also detained on suspicion of a sexual offence during the operation.<\/p>\n

Although the majority of those confronted were delivery riders, the police operation aimed to draw a \u2018line in the sand\u2019 and warn thieves using electric bikes that they are a Met police priority.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tLatest London news\t\t\t<\/p>\n

To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s<\/strong> London news hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Met now has a fleet of Surron e-bikes which can exceed a speed of 50mph. The nimble tool enables them to chase suspects down narrow roads unlike a regular police car in pursuit.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tThe Met now has its own fleet of e-bikes to level the playing field in their pursuit of illegal riders (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tSir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has said high speed e-bikes are \u2018dangerous\u2019 and \u2018anti-social\u2019, with some also being \u2018involved in crime\u2019 (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

High speed SUVs in \u2018interceptor teams\u2019 are also used by the Met, with drivers trained to block and in extreme cases knock suspects off bikes.<\/p>\n

The interceptors often lay in wait for the thieves and ambush them as they ride into the West End to plunder phones and luxury watches.<\/p>\n

They keep in contact with the Met\u2019s e-bike team, which can more easily weave through traffic in chase.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHow is the Met tackling the e-bike epidemic?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Met has declared war on illegal e-bikes and will deploy more officers for it over the next three years \u2013 addressing the problem under the New Met Plan for London launched on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Commander Neerav Patel, who leads the Met\u2019s operations against illegal e-bikes, said: \u2018Officers will be using an intelligence-led approach to precisely target hotspots, make arrests, and clear thousands of illegal vehicles from our streets.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We are not starting from scratch,\u2019 he added, as the force has \u2018already seized over 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters in the last year\u2019.<\/p>\n

A consultation across the capital revealed that speeding e-bikes were a day-to-day headache for Londoners that they want to see tackled.<\/p>\n

Scotland Yard also found riders of modified bikes were hitting speeds of around 60mph.<\/p>\n

In the West End, the high number of phones of phones snatched, often using fast e-bikes, triggered calls for action. Some 117,000\u00a0devices were stolen in 2024 in London \u2013 up a quarter from 2019.<\/p>\n

However, the Met added that many types of crime are falling, such as the murder rate which is at a five-year low. A thousand extra suspects are being arrested each month too, according to Scotland Yard\u00a0figures.<\/p>\n

Police are also hoping to use surveillance drones and facial recognition technology to beef up their battle against criminals snatching phones.<\/p>\n

Met Police<\/a> Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley<\/a> told Metro <\/strong>before the operation that the menace of e bikes and the criminals who use them for robberies would a be high priority in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

Police have seized 2,500 e-bikes in the past year, with the Met warning that a seemingly generous Christmas<\/a> gift could end up on the scrap heap.<\/p>\n

To make the point, illegal e-bikes seized by the Met have been crushed and put under the Christmas tree outside Scotland<\/a> Yard. Police are warning that if you get an illegal bike as a gift, it could end up with a similar fate.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tIllegal e-bikes seized by the Met have been put under the Christmas tree outside Scotland Yard to send a message to other riders (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"W8media.
\n\t\tConfiscated bikes have been crushed and left out as a warning (Picture: w8media)<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018These e-bikes are dangerous, it\u2019s anti-social, some are involved in crime<\/a>, it\u2019s not nice if you are walking along the pavement and one of these screams past you.<\/p>\n

\u2018This issue comes up in every borough if you are buying e bikes at Christmas they better be legal (or you will lose them).\u2019<\/p>\n

The Commissioner said: \u2018If you are a menace on one of these bikes, you will lose them.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Crime in the West End is lower than this time last year,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tLondon crime figures from the Metropolitan Police\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Between April 1 and October 29, officers achieved reductions in several types of crime in the West End compared to the same period last year:<\/p>\n