Lime wants to work with Brent Council to avert removal threat

Council leader Muhammed Butt told the Brent & Kilburn Times earlier this week that the electric hire bike company has a “long road to travel” to recover the trust of people in Brent after concerns of bikes being poorly parked and abandoned.

The council instructed the company must remove its dockless bikes in the borough by October 31 if it continues to ignore the council’s safety concerns and fails to address a list of required changes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this week, Cllr Butt expanded on this and said that dumped bikes are “a nuisance”, stating Lime needs to “take some responsibility for its users”.

A Lime bike in Kingsbury, left abandoned in a hedge at least three days apart (Image: Joseph Reaidi)

He added: “Lime has no idea who are using their bikes once they’re hacked, because they're so easy to hack.

“Anyone could go on to TikTok or anything else and take a look at how to hack one of these Lime bikes and start using those bikes.

“It's their bikes and they need to take some of the accountability, responsibility for making sure that their assets are kept safe and secure."

The Brent & Kilburn Times was told that Lime has been in communication with the council and meetings will take place with the cabinet and senior officers to consider its response.

Mr Butt said: “We all want to see more cycling across Brent. However, there are still many issues that remain unresolved in Lime’s proposals."

Lime bikes in Kingsbury, Brent (Image: Joseph Reaidi) Lime has publicly said in a statement that it wants to work with the council in resolving any issues.

It stated: “Banning bikes won’t help anyone."

There are currently 750 bikes within the borough since Lime partnered with Brent in 2019, but there have been a flurry of complaints regarding dockless bikes being scattered across pavements and roads.

Brent Council said there is an “increasing number” of reports made regarding issues with these rentals, and there is often a “slow response time” by Lime to remove them.

The company was asked to make several changes before the deadline, including introducing dedicated parking bays and a no parking zone.

• READ ALSO: 'Long road to travel' for Lime after council's threat to remove e-bikes

It was also asked to introduce dedicated local resources to ensure any reported bikes are dealt with swiftly and increased penalties for those parking in inconvenient spots.

The council suggested Lime should consider providing local training and employment opportunities and community engagement events – including a Brent Resident Forum where people can share their views.

A Lime spokesperson said: "We are proud to have worked with our partner councils over the last six years to build a safe and reliable shared e-bike service across London.

“Local residents in Brent and across the capital use our bikes for essential journeys every day, with 11.5 million commuting trips already taken this year.

“We can enforce mandatory parking rules in Brent, but first we need the council to build a functional network of parking locations.

“We can provide data and funding to support this process. We want to work with them on this. Banning bikes won't help anyone."