Westminster City Council has intensified its crackdown on badly parked hire bikes, seizing more than 1,000 since May and issuing thousands of penalties to operators over pavement obstructions.
More than 1,000 dockless hire bikes have been seized from streets across Westminster since May as part of a major council crackdown on bikes obstructing pavements and public spaces.
Westminster City Council confirmed that it has also issued more than 5,300 fixed penalty notices to bike operators during the same period, amounting to over £450,000.
The authority says the action is intended to protect pedestrians, particularly wheelchair users, parents with pushchairs and people who may be forced into the road by incorrectly parked bikes.
Record numbers of bikes removed
The council has doubled its enforcement patrols in recent weeks, with officers seizing a record 217 bikes in a single week.
Under the enforcement programme, dockless bikes causing obstructions are removed from public spaces, with operators charged for their return.
Councillor Caroline Sargent, Westminster Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for enforcement, said the authority was delivering on its promise to tackle the problem.
She said:
"We promised we would take action against badly parked dockless bikes and we meant it."
Sargent said each seizure represented a potential obstruction affecting residents, including people using wheelchairs or pushing prams.
She also called on hire bike companies to take greater responsibility for where their vehicles are left.
Calls for consistent rules across London
The enforcement figures were released as dockless bike operators and transport officials attended a London Assembly Transport Committee meeting to discuss regulation across the capital.
Currently, individual London boroughs have separate arrangements with operators, meaning parking rules and enforcement procedures can differ considerably.
Representatives from Lime, Voi and Bolt raised concerns about the inconsistent system.
Lime's Alice Pleasant described the differing regulations as a patchwork, while representatives from Voi and Bolt said the approach created difficulties for businesses and customers.
Operators also acknowledged that designated parking facilities had not kept pace with the growing popularity of dockless bike schemes.
Concerns over cycle safety
Figures cited by the London Assembly highlighted wider concerns about hire bike safety.
18%
Of cycle collisions involved hire bikes in 2025
2%
Equivalent figure in 2017
6
Deaths recorded since 2017
Figures cited during London Assembly discussions. The increase in the proportion of collisions involving hire bikes does not by itself establish that individual journeys have become more dangerous.
Around 80% of those injured in hire cycle collisions in 2025 were riders themselves, according to the figures cited.
New London-wide regulations could take years
London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Dr Will Norman, defended the role of dockless bikes in the capital's transport network.
He said they had become an important part of sustainable transport, accounting for approximately one in ten bicycle journeys in London.
However, he acknowledged the need for a more coordinated regulatory approach.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 allows the Transport Secretary to grant Transport for London statutory powers to regulate dockless micromobility schemes.
Those powers are not currently expected to be introduced until at least 2028.
Norman confirmed that he had written to the Government requesting that the process be accelerated.
In the meantime, Westminster Council says it will continue removing hire bikes that obstruct pavements and other public spaces.
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