Illegal e-motorbike riders posing risks to residents and properties

Riders on powerful electric motorbikes are intimidating pedestrians, damaging property and putting people at risk by riding dangerously through towns and villages, communities have warned.

Residents have described riders performing wheelies and riding on pavements and footpaths at high speed, often while wearing balaclavas.

"I've seen little old ladies have to run," said Britt, who fears being hit by one. "I've seen little kids being aimed at."

The government says it has introduced new powers to allow the police to seize vehicles used anti-socially without having to issue a warning first.

Britt, from Burgess Hill in West Sussex, describes how groups of riders on powerful electric motorbikes regularly race through the streets.

"You can hear them ripping up the road," she says. "Wheelie-ing, shouting to each other.

"A lot of the time there'll be one bike with two people on it. They could be a gang of four going down the road, swerving in and out of traffic and aiming at people."

Britt and her partner were walking through the town when they narrowly avoided injury.

"As we were walking, there were two groups of bikes coming down the pavement," she says.

"They rode straight down the middle of it. They were aiming at us, to the point where I had to push him out of the way because they were just going to hit him."

Deputy mayor David Eggleton says: "I've seen people doing wheelies, riding on the wrong side of the road and behaving in a way that is dangerous to themselves and intimidating towards others.

"They're wearing balaclavas at the same time."

He has filmed some of the activity on his phone.

"Never mind the residents being intimidated," he says. "I was intimidated when I took that footage. I thought they were going to come back to get me."

Residents' concerns are not only about collisions.

Some worry that the anonymity provided by face coverings and the speed of the bikes could make them attractive to criminals.

"If it continues to grow, I'm genuinely concerned that we could be walking and come across a bike and someone on that bike could be carrying a knife," Britt says.

"They could try and mug you. They could do anything."

Over near the football club, we meet Simon. He was walking down an alleyway near the station when he had a near miss with an e-motorbike gang.

"It's a narrow path, you don't really have any room to get out of the way, and then all of a sudden there was a rush of movement behind," he said. "Two lads came crashing past."

He says the quietness of the electric bikes combined with the anti-social way they are ridden is dangerous.

Both riders were masked and Simon believes they were at most 14 or 15 years old.

"The lady I was with at the time had to dive to one side," he adds.

Sussex Police says it will continue to take action against anyone found to be riding e-bikes and e-scooters illegally.

For some families, encounters with illegally-ridden electric motorbikes have ended in tragedy.

In May 2025, 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson was killed after being struck on a zebra crossing in Sunderland by Billy Stokoe, who was riding an illegal and defective Sur-Ron electric motorbike.

Billy Stokoe is thrown from his illegal electric motorbike after hitting and killing pedestrian Gloria Stephenson

Taylor, 20, is also from Burgess Hill and was riding his legal motorbike to work one day when he overtook two bikes as they pulled out from a junction.

"It was a normal Monday morning. Broad daylight, about 11am," he says.

According to Taylor, one rider began performing wheelies and obstructing traffic.

"The other one chased me down," he says. "Before you know it, I'm on the side of the road. I went flying."

Dashcam footage shows the riders leaving the scene as just yards away Taylor lies injured on the roadside.

An ambulance was called and he was taken away on a stretcher wearing a pelvic brace.

While his physical injuries healed, he says the psychological impact has remained.

"All the videos on social media of people riding their bikes, I couldn't watch anymore," he says. "They'd make me feel ill. I couldn't even look at it."

Taylor has still not been able to get his bike fixed and ride it again.

He adds: "It did mess with my head a little bit. It's the most traumatic thing I've ever been through personally."

Illegal use of electric motorbikes is not a problem confined to one town.

Across social media there are videos showing large groups of riders travelling together on roads, pavements and public rights of way.

In Kent, footage shared on YouTube shows a "rideout" - a large group riding on the A2.

Drivers sound their horns as riders move between lanes and even drive on the hard shoulder against the traffic.

Part of the challenge of preventing illegal behaviour is that very different vehicles are often grouped together under the term "e-bike".

A legal e-bike , externalmust have pedals and the motor is only there to provide assistance while the rider is pedalling. That motor assistance must cut out at 15.5mph (24km/h).

Such bikes can generally be used without a driving licence, vehicle tax or insurance.

Many machines being seized by police are electric motorcycles.

They have throttles and much more powerful motors and may only be ridden legally on private land with the owner's permission.

Road legal versions of the e-motorbikes have to be registered, taxed and insured.

On a patrol with Surrey Police, officers described catching those riding electric motorbikes illegally as a constant game of cat and mouse.

Special constable Jack Warner is part of a team targeting rural areas.

"They go on footpaths, they break into farmers' fields, which obviously damages the crops," he says.

"They might even go on the roads, which not only causes hazards to members of the public, but also to themselves because they're often not wearing helmets."

The bikes' performance presents another challenge, with some seen by police that can reach over 40mph (64km/h).

"I know some of the new ones can get close to 60mph (96km/h)," Warner says.

That speed, combined with the terrain, can make enforcement difficult.

"Most of them won't stop for us," Warner says. "Pursuit tactics, especially off-road, are very limited."

Later during the patrol, officers receive a radio call. Another team has arrested a rider.

PC Stephen Grout says the bike had been seen performing wheelies and riding on the pavement in Dorking High Street.

"When we got close, he tried to violently escape from us," he says. "The bike has been seized."

The popularity of electric motorbikes has been fuelled in part by social media.

Videos showing riders performing stunts, weaving through traffic and travelling at speed can attract hundreds of thousands of views.

But there are those trying to change the image.

Matt is a masked rider with tens of thousands of followers on YouTube.

He readily acknowledges why the machines have become so popular.

"Of course they're desirable for criminals, and there is a huge problem when it comes to people using these bikes for crime," he says.

"I guess it's the popularity of the new sort of hype around the electric scene. Because they're so new, a lot of people are interested in them."

He said they were also desirable due to being quiet and "so fast at the twist of a throttle", along with not having gears or refuelling to worry about.

Matt hides his identity partly because it has become part of his online persona.

With a large online following, he has watched the rise of electric motorbike content on social media first-hand.

He says he tries to promote responsible riding but that it is demotivating when "other people are getting a lot of views and getting more accolades for doing the wrong thing".

The Motorcycle Industry Association says it is extremely concerned about the number of electric motorcycles being used illegally and anti-socially in towns and cities across the UK.

"This is causing significant reputational damage to the sector, with these vehicles often being used to enable more serious crime in addition to posing a significant road safety risk to pedestrians and other road users," chief executive Tony Campbell said.

Under the Policing and Crime Act 2026, police forces have been given new powers to seize vehicles used anti-socially without the need to issue a warning first.

The time police must wait before being able to destroy a seized vehicle has been reduced from 14 to seven days, making it harder for offenders to reclaim and reuse them.

Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said: "These new powers give the police the tools they need to seize and destroy the vehicles that cause so much disruption to our local communities."