We are working closely with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), Wandsworth Council, Lime and Forest to tackle bad and dangerous parking of hired e-bikes.

Hire bikes are a quick, healthy and environmentally friendly way to get around Merton, and we want to encourage more people to travel this way.

We have agreements in place with Lime and Forest which require all hire bikes to be parked in designated bays. This was brought in last year to bring more order to our streets and help tackle poorly parked bikes that blocked our pavements and roads. It is the e-bike companies’ responsibility to enforce these mandatory parking requirements across our 350 parking bays, and to prevent bays from becoming overcrowded.

Increased e-bike use in the Wimbledon Village and Wimbledon Park areas during the Championships was something we anticipated. Working with our partners, we have put measures in place to help meet the demand:

• AELTC has made space available in its car park as a dedicated pick-up and drop-off point. This is where almost all of the e-bikes used by attendees are being parked.
• We have temporarily enlarged a number of our regular parking bays in destinations around the park and the village.
• We have agreed with Lime and Forest that they will increase their staffing over the next fortnight to deal with the increased number of e-bikes in the area, and we are proactively alerting them to any bays that are getting full.

While the vast majority of bike users are sticking to the parking rules, we’re disappointed that a very small number of riders are ignoring them. Lime and Forest can issue fines to riders who park their bike improperly, and repeated rule breaking will result in users being banned from the apps. The companies have a contractual obligation to clear these bikes. Where they fail to do this in the agreed timeframe, we have the right to seize their e-bikes.

We are already raising issues with the operators as we find them, but if you see a full bay or an abandoned e-bike, you can report it either directly to Lime and Forest through their apps, or to us if the bike is dangerously parked via Fix My Street.

Councillor Stuart Neaverson, Cabinet Member for Transport and Cleaner Streets, said:

“Earlier today I held a productive meeting with Lime and Forest in Wimbledon.

“We are committed to making a success of e-bikes in Merton, but we will not accept poorly parked bikes that harm our community. I welcome the commitment of both companies to work with us to manage these bays properly, including making changes to their apps to make the rules even clearer.

“We will be closely monitoring the situation over the coming days, and will seize bikes should serious safety issues emerge.

“Whilst we’re vigilant to ensure our streets stay clear and safe, I don’t want to lose sight of how great it is to see so many people cycling their way to the Championships. It is a privilege to host the world’s favourite tennis tournament, and I’m proud to see sustainable travel at the heart of it.”