I’M glad that Hereford Times (June 10) gave front-page prominence to flagging up police confiscation of a child’s £400 E-scooter on the grounds of such matters as lack of road worthiness and the dangers of such vehicles, especially when ridden by children, can pose to other road and pavement users.

As you conclude, while it seems that West Mercia Police intend to crush the device, and the user sacrificed a £500 bike in order to afford the E-scooter, Halford’s decision to sell the device in the first place is questionable.

My attention to the dangers imposed by such devices was raised in September 2020 by a report in the national Disability News Service, in which a disability activist called for stricter controls on electric scooters after she was subjected to a terrifying ordeal that resulted in a violent physical assault which left her needing hospital treatment.

The E-scooter gang was made up of five children and a mother who grievously assaulted the terrorised pedestrian, one of whom claimed that she had pushed him when she reached out her arm to try to stop him riding up and down beside her.

The problem of E-scooters has resonances with my concerns regarding the new ‘homes’ [sic] for Newton Farm.

Amelia Washbourne (Just the start, Letters, June 3) has reported that these housing units are very small; that would add to appeal of E-scooters over bikes for residents.

Yet another Newton Farm issue that Amelia and locals at our pro-community centre stall flagged up on Saturday, June 5, is the menace of county lines drug gangs who exploit children as drug traffickers.

And a simple internet search bringing together keywords 'county lines' and 'E-scooters' clearly indicates police knowledge of dangers there.

So when will West Mercia Police confiscate E-scooters at source?

Alan Wheatley
Hereford

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