A new e-bike hire scheme has had a rocky start in a major English city after bikes were found dumped across pavements just hours after its controversial launch.
Canterbury City Council unveiled the scheme with operator Beryl on Monday in what was described as a "soft launch", with plans to introduce up to 120 bikes at around 30 designated parking bays across the city.
But by Monday evening, the situation had already begun to unravel. At least three of the bright green bikes were seen lying on their sides near St George's roundabout, blocking part of a footpath. Another was found toppled over inside an official docking area.
The scenes quickly drew comparisons to the city's failed e-scooter trial, which ran from 2020 to 2022 and ended after complaints about safety and cluttered streets.
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The new scheme differs from those operating in London, with the Kent city relying on users unlocking bikes via a smartphone app by scanning a QR code.
Riders are charged £1 to unlock a bike, plus 16p per minute, although discounts are available for those who buy bundles in advance.
Beryl's chief executive, Philip Ellis, said the rollout would take place gradually over the next two weeks, with the full fleet expected to be in place soon.
He said: "The scheme is operated on a fixed parking bay basis. There will be almost 30 parking bays implemented across the city centre and into the residential areas where people can pick up a bike, go for a ride and drop it off at any of the parking bays."
The council unveiled the new e-bikes this week | BRADFORD COUNCILDespite the early problems, council officials had previously insisted the scheme would avoid the issues seen with e-scooters.
Transport boss Councillor Alex Ricketts said: "I think it is a very different scheme to the e-scooters. I think you would be crazy to hire one of these bikes and then dump it – you have to fill in your account and go through that whole process. I don't foresee us having the same problems."
However, the first day appeared to suggest otherwise. Mr Ellis said improvements in technology should help prevent misuse, including better GPS tracking and geofencing to ensure bikes are left in the correct places.
"We have good levels of confidence people will know where to pick up and drop off the bikes, and there are immediate fines in place if people leave them out of a bay," he said.
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E-bikes have been growing in popularity across the UK
| PAUsers who fail to return bikes to a designated bay can face a £10 charge. A council spokesman hit out at those responsible for misusing the bikes so soon after launch.
"It is infuriating that when we try to do something positive for the city, a small minority of idiots seems determined to spoil it for everyone else," the spokesman said.
They added that problems were not seen in other cities where Beryl operates. "It is day one of the scheme, and we always expected there would be some teething troubles that we would need to overcome. We'll work with Beryl Bikes to get on top of them as quickly as we can."
The scheme costs £260,000 to get up and running, including £160,000 from the Government's Levelling Up fund and £100,000 from developers.
E-bikes have been left blocking the pavement due to incorrect parking by riders | GETTYHowever, Councillor Ricketts stressed that no money would come directly from the council's main budget, instead coming from other means.
On safety, Mr Ellis said operator Beryl has local teams on the ground to maintain the bikes and keep them in good condition.
He said: "The most important thing we can do for maintaining safety is ensuring the bikes are properly looked after. The current riding zone covers a large part of the city, from Rough Common to the Barton Estate, and from Sturry Road Community Park to Wincheap."
There are also hopes the scheme could expand in future, including a potential route to Whitstable using the Crab and Winkle path.