Ealing Council has approved new powers to seize e-bikes which pose a danger or nuisance to pedestrians.

At full council on Tuesday, October 13, councillors voted to delegate statutory powers to senior officers which will allow for seizures without court orders.

According to a council report, "Immediate removal under section 149(2) is limited to bikes that present a danger requiring removal without delay; other nuisance cases require notice and, if necessary, a court order."

The approach also includes forcing e-bike companies to reimburse the council for the cost of recovery. Seized e-bikes will be transported to and stored in a secure council-owned garage on a housing estate.

The 1,800 dockless e-bikes in Ealing operate under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with companies Forest and Lime. Voi continues to operate in the borough despite not being chosen as it is unhappy with the selection process.

According to the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Cllr Dominic Moffitt, the council formally requested that Voi cease operations and withdraw its fleet from Ealing, but Voi has refused to leave.

Alongside the new powers, Cllr Moffitt, negotiated an updated MoU with operators. As a result, operators are required to clear reported obstructive bikes within two hours rather than four.

Residents are encouraged to report obstructive bikes via the Love Clean Streets app, including the bikes registration number to facilitate enforcement.

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To avoid cluttered streets, the council is transitioning away from virtual in-app parking areas toward a network of approximately 300 physically marked bays across the borough. Additionally, in-app geofencing precision has been tightened down to a 10cm accuracy to prevent riders from terminating rides outside of marked bays.

Lime and Forest will also be forced to fund additional on street "rangers" dedicated to rearranging missparked bikes. This follows a failed enforcement scheme which was supposed to see operators fined for mis-parked bikes.

However, the scheme launched in February 2026 led to no Fixed Penalty Notices being issued to operators.

According to Ealing Council, this was mainly due to limited staff capacity and "the reporting requirements in the enforcement policy, ensuring operators are provided with a reasonable timeframe to remove bikes, in line with legislative requirements, and a focus on collaborative working rather than punitive action as a starting point to address obstructive bikes."