POLICE took to the streets to speak to members of the public who were riding private e-scooters illegally.

Riders were warned that they risk being reported for traffic offences and face seizure of their e-scooters if they are stopped again.

The only place to legally ride a privately owned e-scooter is on private land with the owner or occupier’s permission. It is illegal to ride private e-scooters on roads, pavements, cycle lanes, beach promenades, bridleways, or public land such as parks and car parks.

Sergeant Rhys Griffiths said: “At the moment, locally we’re not seeing serious injury and death trends but I think anyone would accept that with the speed and users not wearing helmets, there is massive potential for that trend to change and I suspect that probably in the coming months we will see that start to happen, so we’re trying to prevent that.”

Most people stopped by police on the day said they did not know about the rules applying to private scooters when they bought them.

Different rules apply to the Beryl scooters which were rolled out in Bournemouth and Poole as part of a government trial and have safety features such as speed restrictions which allow individuals to ride legally. Privately owned e-scooters are not part of this trial.

Phillip Ellis, chief executive of Beryl, said: “As part of the government’s e-scooter trials, they are classed as a type of motor vehicle and require a valid driving licence, insurance and for users to abide by the rules of the road.

“All users of our service need to abide by these laws and are reminded to look through the safety reminders within our app as well as our terms and conditions. In any instance where our vehicles are being misused, Beryl reserves the right to ban the relevant people from our scheme and, where appropriate, will refer the matter to the police.”

Asked about a potential full roll out of the Beryl scheme when the trial ends, Sgt Griffiths said: “I think there’s clearly a strong incentive around green travel for this type of transport to be used more widely. I would welcome that taking place in a manner which is safe and meets the needs of all road users.

“If the vulnerabilities around this type of transport can be addressed safely then in the future, there is clearly some potential with it.”

Officers will continue to approach those riding a private e-scooter on public land and inform them of the law. They will take down the details of the riders and explain where and how e-scooters can be used.