One London borough has threatened to kick out Lime and Forest e-bikes if the companies don’t resolve ‘persistent problems’ plaguing residents.
Islington Council sent a letter to the rental e-bike operators Lime and Forest last week, telling them to tackle ongoing issues like obstructive parking, nighttime noise and antisocial behaviour which ‘remain unresolved.’
The leader of Islington Council, Una O’Halloran, and executive council member Rowena Champion, urged the operators to address obstructive parking blocking pavements and causing hazards, to activate geofencing on estates, and to make sure bays are not overflowing.
Lime and Forest also have to tell the council how many bikes are available in the borough, and improve enforcement like bike removal and good pavement access, and bike tracking.
The council bosses appeared to give an ultimatum to the firms, saying they have been welcomed because of the benefits hire bikes bring, but that ‘without urgent action on these issues, this welcome will be withdrawn.’
Residents have complained of e-bike ‘madness,’ with bikes seen blocking pavements and taking up residents’ parking spaces in streets like Avenell Road, and on the Greens Lane and Clissold Park corner.
Terry, who only gave his first name, often walks his nine-year-old dog Rosie through Islington and Stoke Newington.
The pair have both been hit by riders on rental e-bikes jumping red lights, with Rosie sustaining a big scratch on her head after being knocked over, Terry told Metro in Highbury, which was flagged by the council as an often overflowing spot.
Terry, who is partially sighted and partially hearing, said: ‘I don’t mind the bikes as long as they abide by the law like red lights and bikes are not strewn across the pavement.
‘I’ve seen people with strollers struggle to get past them. And they can be quite scary when they don’t stop at the red lights. The bikes are heavy and often silent.
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He welcomed the council’s move to demand more action, adding that roadsides with double yellow lines should have more e-bike parking.
Sarah Gayton, a campaigner from the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, accused e-bike operators of taking advantage of public spaces like pavements.
‘For God’s sake, just get them docked and locked,’ she told Metro.
What have Lime and Forest said?
Forest’s head of policy, Alex Berwin, said: ‘As London’s homegrown shared e-bike operator, we care deeply about making a positive impact in the city and the communities we serve. Millions of journeys are made on Forest bikes in Islington each year, helping cut congestion and improve air quality, and we remain committed to being a responsible operator and a constructive partner to Islington Council.
‘We recognise that the service must work well for everyone, and we take the issues raised seriously. That is why we are investing heavily in better parking technology, in-app guidance and clear instructions to help users park responsibly and reduce street clutter. Our local team also responds quickly when issues are reported to help ensure bikes don’t cause obstruction or inconvenience.
‘We take rider behaviour extremely seriously, with one of the toughest compliance systems in the industry, reinforced by regular user safety education and our Common Sense Club campaign. Alongside this, we continue to work closely with the Council on no-parking and slow-speed zones, actively manage fleet levels to prevent overcapacity, and we are currently the only operator to have fully switched off night-time servicing to reduce disturbance for residents.
‘We welcome the Councillors’ letter and have responded in detail. We look forward to meeting with them at their earliest convenience to review progress and to continue working together to ensure the service benefits not just our riders, but all Islington residents and communities.’
A spokesperson for Lime said: ‘We’ve worked in partnership with Islington Council for 6 years, and share their view that rental e-bikes play a valuable role in improving congestion, air quality, and public health in the borough and across London”.
‘Record demand for our service has led to some parking challenges in Islington, which we’re working to address through our London Action Plan, with more investment in dedicated parking bays. This includes helping fund over 100 in Islington this year – and an increased on-street team tidying misparked bikes and overcrowded bays faster than ever.
‘We take our partnership with Islington Council seriously, and look forward to continuing our work with them to create an environment where cycling is a safe, integrated part of daily life for all. We’re committed to working with the Council on practical steps to minimise disruption for residents, especially during the night. In saying that, we know many Islington residents depend on shared e-bikes for their commutes and other essential travel. To ensure bikes are charged and available outside people’s homes when they need them, some overnight operations are essential.’
‘There is one easy solution – they need to be docked and locked like Santander bikes. And until they do that, they should be instantly removed.
She continued: ‘Dockless e-bikes are a failed business model in terms of safety and accessibility for blind, visually impaired people, wheelchair users and anybody who needs to use that pavement as a safe place to go to spaces and places.
‘The council is sounding angry, but in reality, the dockless e-bikes is not something you can make safe and accessible. They all need to be removed and only returned when they can be docked.
‘The pavement should be a safe place, and especially in London where there should be no parking on pavement, and these companies have come in and took advantage of the situation, took advantage of public space.’
The row over dockless e-bikes and their safety has been raging for years, with fuel added to the flames when hordes of bikes are left strewn across pavements across London.
Metro reader Jo Matt also said the rental e-bikes need ‘stands to go in like the Boris bikes did,’ referring to the docking Santander bikes by their unofficial nickname coined after the former London mayor.
Stephen Knight said: ‘I think these bikes are dangerous the way they are left causing a blind person to fall over them, they should be parked up and not just left on the pavements.’
John Sinha said that ‘more parking space should be made available for e-bikes,’ while Rakesh Shad said e-bike operators should invest money they are making into technology that block jumping red lights and pavement riding.
Privately owned e-bikes are adding to the confusion over e-bikes and what is allowed, with personal e-bikes legal as long as their speed is limited.
However, the Met Police is an ever-increasing race trying to tackle e-bikes with illegal upgrades, allowing them to reach speeds over 50mph.
Islington Council said it has removed more than 200 badly parked bikes in the past year, and the borough now has 200 dedicated bays.
Dockless rental e-bikes have been operating in Islington since 2017.
Between 2021 and May 2025, there were four reports of pedestrians tripping or falling on dockless hire bikes on pavements, the council told Metro in a Freedom of Information response.
There have been three formal complaints about e-bikes on pavements between January 2021 and May 2025, with Balfour Road and Noel Road named as hotspots.
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