Met Showcases Ealing E-bike Blitz as Part of New Strategy

12 illegal machines seized on Uxbridge Road and then crushed

Officers stop an e-bike rider in Ealing. Picture: Met Police

December 11, 2025

A major police operation in the centre of Ealing has resulted in the seizure of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters. The Metropolitan Police chose to highlight the local operation as it launched the second phase of its London-wide community crime-fighting strategy. The proactive enforcement on 29 November, focused on hotspots along Uxbridge Road, formed part of the Met’s intensified crackdown on dangerous riding and vehicle-enabled crime.

Officers seized 12 e-bikes and e-scooters during the targeted Ealing operation and made one arrest. The action was aimed at riders suspected of using the vehicles for offences such as phone snatching, street robberies and antisocial behaviour.

The clampdown coincided with the publication of A New Met for London: Phase 2, the force’s three-year plan to reduce neighbourhood crime, increase public confidence and target the capital’s most harmful offenders. The strategy is an expansion of the reforms launched in 2023, which the Met says have already led to 1,000 additional arrests each month, a 15% drop in neighbourhood crime, and trust levels rising to 74%.

Illegal e-bikes and modified e-scooters have become a persistent problem across several parts of Ealing, particularly along key east–west corridors such as Uxbridge Road and the Broadway. Residents and local businesses have repeatedly reported groups of riders travelling at high speeds on pavements, weaving through traffic, and using unregistered vehicles for theft and drug-related activity.

In recent months, neighbourhood officers have carried out several small-scale stings, including checkpoints near West Ealing station, Broadway Parade and Acton High Street. Police have also issued warnings about “Franken-bikes” – heavily modified e-bikes capable of travelling at moped speeds – which are illegal on public roads and often used by offenders involved in phone snatching.

Local Safer Neighbourhood Teams have been working with the council to improve CCTV coverage in hotspots and have increased patrols during peak problem hours, particularly weekday evenings and weekends.

The 29 November operation in Ealing formed part of a wider series of intelligence-led actions across the capital. Officers in the borough set up multiple checkpoints along Uxbridge Road, an area known for high volumes of delivery riders and e-bike traffic. Many seized vehicles were found to be modified beyond the legal power limit or ridden without insurance.

Commander Neerav Patel, who is overseeing the Met’s crackdown on illegal e-bikes, said, “We are listening to Londoners’ concerns about how e-bikes and e-scooters are being used to commit offences, such as phone snatching and other anti-social behaviour. That’s why we are ramping up action and increasing the roll-out of specialised operations across our neighbourhoods.”

He added that officers are using an intelligence-led approach to target hotspots, seize illegal vehicles, and make arrests. More than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been seized across London in the past year.

The Met displayed crushed e-bikes outside New Scotland Yard. Picture: Met Police

Under the new plan, the Met says it will further strengthen neighbourhood policing across London, making officers “visible, accessible and responsive” to local concerns. Key priorities include:

• reducing neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour
• tackling serious violence, including knife and gun crime
• improving victim support
• cutting bureaucracy to free up officers for frontline work

The strategy will also expand the Met’s use of live facial recognition and introduce rapid-response drones to give officers real-time intelligence before they arrive at incidents. It says the technology has already helped identify over 1,000 wanted suspects, including violent offenders, rapists and robbers.

Police say Londoners repeatedly raised concerns about dangerous e-bike and e-scooter use during recent community policing events, with more than 2,500 residents giving feedback across the boroughs. Ealing attendees highlighted issues ranging from pavement riding to groups of offenders using high-powered electric bikes to target lone pedestrians for mobile phone theft.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the force is determined to tackle “the dangerous use of e-bikes and e-scooters,” adding: “Communities have told us they value highly visible, locally focused policing, and that’s exactly what we will continue to provide.”