Lincolnshire Police tackles illegal e-scooter use in Grantham

Officers in Grantham have been targeting the illegal use of e-scooters in response to public feedback.

Grantham’s Neighbourhood Policing Team made e-scooters a priority area, following a consultation with local council, schools and the community.

The e-scooter priority was set in June and since then, there have been eight seizures in the Grantham area and one traffic offence report, which means that they are reported to the central ticket office and are likely to receive a fine and/or points on the licence.

PC Karl Cinavas, community beat manager, said: "The public response has been very good, and I have been approached by many members of the general public to thank the team for our work.

“The results we’ve had shows how important this was on a couple of occasions, we have found that vehicles which were just not road-worthy as their brakes don’t work.

"Our primary aim is to make our neighbourhoods safe, and we have taken, what I think, is a reasonable approach.

“Most youngsters who we have had to stop have mostly been dealt with by giving them and their parents words of advice, although we have seized the scooters when necessary.

“In one case earlier this week we seized a vehicle from a 16 year old riding on the pavement in the Uplands Drive area, but did not issue a ticket.

"This means that there isn’t a risk of points on his ghost licence – another word for a licence he doesn’t yet hold.

“There has been a clear support from the public on how we are handling this, and several incidents called in of near misses or complaints of road rage from users of e-scooters.

“We’d like to thank everyone in our community who has helped spread the message and share information, and all those who have positively engaged with us when approached."

The police also gathered information from Grantham residents about other areas suffering issues with e-scooters, such as the vehicles being ridden at speeds of around 30mph.

The team initially highlighted that they were planning to tackle e-scooters via their social media channels and shared details with the local authority and secondary schools.

They also launched a survey to capture the views of the public.

If someone is unsure about the rules of using an e-scooter, they can find out more information at https://www.lincs.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/advice.

Send us your stories to comment@granthamjournal.co.uk