Edinburgh Labour MP Scott Arthur calls on UK Government to use new powers to crack down on illegal e-bikes
‘It is time to properly close every avenue for the sale or modification of these bikes’ - Scott Arthur MP
Edinburgh South West Labour MP Scott Arthur has called on the UK Government to classify illegal e-bikes as unsafe products in a move he says could reduce the number sold and imported.
He said incidents of criminal or anti-social behaviour using such bikes were far too common and added they could also pose a fire risk.
“For too long we have seen anti-social behaviour and crime enabled by these bikes. While legal e-bikes are an effective and safe way for cyclists to travel, when modified to illegal standards, they become dangerous.
“Constituents have told me of far too many incidents and near misses in Edinburgh. It is time to properly close every avenue for the sale or modification of these bikes.”
New powers given to ministers under a law passed last year allows them to designate products “unsafe”. And Dr Arthur said if they did so with illegal e-bikes it would require both online and high street retailers to stop selling the bikes and conversion kits as well as cracking down on them being imported from abroad.
In a letter to Consumer Protection Minister Kate Dearden, he outlined the need to go further in tackling the use of illegal e-bikes.
He said: “When these bikes can often travel at speeds in excess of the speed limit, their use in pedestrian areas or cycle lanes is a clear safety risk.
“Many of these bikes also have specifications that are not designed to handle higher speeds, which can lead to longer stopping distances and loss of control, again putting both their riders and other pedestrians and motorists at risk of a collision.
“Having spoken to the police on a number of occasions about this issue, I know catching those riding these bikes is not quick or easy. Local police are doing what they can, with some success in seizing and crushing bikes and tracking riders using drones, but both officers and the public want to go further.
“The police need further funding from the Scottish Government, but it is also necessary for the UK to take further steps to stop the sale of these bikes and kits and their entrance into the country.”
The UK Government’s Product Safety and Metrology Act 2025 introduced powers for ministers to designate products as ‘unsafe’ using a product safety framework that is being fully updated for the first time since 2005. A consultation on the updated framework ended last week.
Dr Arthur told Ms Dearden: “I believe that the government should take the step to class illegal e-bikes and their conversion kits as unsafe products using the new standards for product safety.
“Defining them as unsafe would provide clarity for enforcement authorities and ease the removal of non-compliant devices from the market.”
.And Dr Arthur also called for greater regulation of lithium-ion batteries which are often used in both legal and illegal e-bikes.
He said a recent fire in an e-bike shop in Dalry may have originated from a lithium-ion battery. “Thankfully no one was seriously injured. Things could have been much worse, and the incident was a reminder of the lack of regulation around lithium-ion batteries.”