Milton Keynes to launch e-scooter hire scheme within days - and they can even be ridden on some roads

People will be able to ride the machines on redways and minor estate roads.

But they will not be allowed to go on grid roads or any roads with a speed limit of more than 30mph.

And to hire on the the scooters, which can go up to 14.8 mph, you must be aged 18 or over and hold at least a provisional driving licence.

MK Council is launching the e-scooter trial in partnership with Lime, the global leader in micromobility.

Expected to launch at the beginning of August - subject to formal approval from the Department for Transport - the scheme will see Lime launch an initial fleet of 250 e-scooters alongside its current e-bike service in the city.

It will be the first full-scale trial in the UK and it comes just four weeks after the government agreed to change to legislative changes to allow e-scooter trials on British roads.

Lime has committed to eventually providing a fleet of up to 500 of the company’s latest e-scooters for rental in the city based on expected demand. This will see Milton Keynes become the first city in the UK to enjoy the first multimodal service, something widely seen in cities across Europe, the United States and Asia.

Cllr Peter Marland, leader of MK Council said: “At a time when residents are in need of safe, environmentally friendly and socially-distant means of transport, we’re thrilled to be the first UK city to provide this type of large e-scooter trial. "

He added: "We’re pleased to continue working with Lime and are looking forward to seeing the people of Milton Keynes take advantage of the on-street e-scooter service. This will provide an important new travel option to residents and visitors to Milton Keynes and we look forward to working with Lime to study the results from the trial.

"Following the success of innovative trials of technologies like shared e-bikes and autonomous delivery robots, Milton Keynes will now be home to the country’s first large scale e-scooter trial."

Lime was selected to run the first ‘on-street’ phase Milton Keynes’ e-scooter service following a competitive process with more than ten e-scooter providers vying to launch in the city. It is expected the trial will run for a period of twelve months

Florence Milner, General Manager UK & Ireland at Lime, said: “We’re delighted to have been selected as the first provider to bring e-scooters to the UK at scale. We believe they will transform travel in Milton Keynes at a time when we’re in desperate need of alternatives to driving.

“We’re thrilled that Milton Keynes Council have continued to show faith in the high quality services we provide. It was a highly competitive selection process so we are very pleased to have been selected to continue serving the people of Milton Keynes, as we have already done successfully for over 18 months.

We are actively involved in other competitive processes to provide e-scooter services to other towns and cities in the UK and hope to be able to further expand our service soon.”

An MK Council spokesman said: "The current plan is that the e-scooters can ride along the Redways, minor estate roads and pavements. We are currently working on a geofencing plan, the e-scooters will not be able to go on roads that are in excess of 30mph."