Traffic & Transport
Ebike and e-scooter fires in UK rise to new record highs | Firefighters
Ebike and e-scooter fires in the UK reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, renewing concerns over the use of lithium batteries and unregulated marketplaces.
Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show there were at least 432 ebike fires recorded across the UK in 2025, up 38% from 313 the previous year and more than five times higher than the 84 recorded in 2021.
There were at least 147 e-scooter fires in 2025, a 20% jump on the 123 in 2024. The figures come from freedom of information requests sent to the UK’s 49 fire brigades, of which 37 responded.
London fire brigade (LFB) recorded by far the most ebike and e-scooter fires last year, with 171 and 35 respectively. Nottinghamshire had the next highest number of ebike fires, 30, followed by Greater Manchester (13) and Avon (10).
Greater Manchester had the highest number of e-scooter blazes (13) outside London, ahead of Avon (10).
Ebike and e-scooter fires are often caused by the failure of batteries, conversion kits or chargers. Products bought from online marketplaces have been found to be at greater risk of malfunctioning than those sold by established retailers because they are not subjected to the same level of regulation.
Nick Bailey, of BatteryIQ, which provides a system to monitor the safety of ebike batteries, said the ebikes and e-scooters involved in fires were “always cut-price products sold through online marketplaces with lax quality control”.
He said: “There’s also a growing black market in DIY and counterfeit batteries, particularly for delivery riders, built using battery cells reclaimed from used disposable vapes.
“I wouldn’t keep a battery in my home without continuous monitoring – regardless of what the manufacturer’s sticker says.”
Fires involving lithium batteries used for ebikes and e-scooters can spread rapidly and produce a toxic vapour.
Last year, 30-year-old Eden Abera Siem died in hospital after a blaze at her north London home that investigators found was likely to have been caused by the failure of a charging ebike battery.
Lesley Rudd, the chief executive of the charity Electrical Safety First, said: “Poorly made batteries and accessories, often sold via under-regulated online marketplaces, are of huge concern and are a major route through which dangerous devices are entering people’s homes.
“Without strong and enforceable changes, lives are at serious risk and further loss of life is sadly inevitable.”
Spencer Sutcliff, an LFB deputy commissioner, said the brigade was “extremely concerned around the issue of ebike and e-scooter fires and the devastating impact these fires can have on lives and livelihoods”. He said the brigade’s firefighters “continue to be called out to a worrying amount” of the incidents.
Privately owned e-scooters have been banned from the Transport for London (TfL) network since December 2021 because of their fire risk. This was extended to non-foldable ebikes for the majority of TfL services in March last year after an ebike caught fire on a platform at Rayners Lane tube station.
Private e-scooters are banned from being used in public areas across the UK, although they are often ridden illegally in many urban locations. Legal trials of rental e-scooters on roads have been ongoing in towns and cities across England since July 2020.
Under UK law, ebike motors must cut out when a speed of 15.5mph is reached. But police are increasingly finding many have been modified to reach much faster speeds.
Sue Davies, Which?’s head of consumer rights policy, said: “Online marketplaces are increasingly saturated with unsafe products.
“Ebikes and e-scooters are just some examples of items that can pose serious risks to consumers while also undercutting responsible businesses that comply with the law.
“The government has launched a much-needed consultation on updating the product safety framework, including duties for online marketplaces to prevent unsafe products from being sold by third-party sellers.
“These duties must be strong and enforceable, with clear measures in place to protect consumers and reduce the risk of fires and other harm.”
Traffic & Transport
London braces for second day of Tube strike disruption | London Underground
A London Underground drivers’ strike will bring another day of transport disruption to the capital on Thursday, after the RMT union confirmed its action would go ahead.
Transport for London (TfL) urged the union to call off the strike, the second 24-hour stoppage this week in a dispute over the introduction of a four-day working week.
While passengers have been warned to check before they travel, with little or no service expected on some lines, TfL said that Tuesday’s strike did not close most of the network, after more drivers than expected reported for work.
The proposed change to the drivers’ working week has been strongly welcomed by the rival Aslef union, which represents just over half of Tube drivers in London, but blocked by the RMT.
TfL said that 60% of drivers worked on Tuesday, a figure that suggests many RMT members also did not go on strike.
The union has accused TfL of trying to force through working changes, although TfL has said the proposals are voluntary. No further talks have taken place since negotiations at Acas ended without resolution on Monday.
No service is expected on the Circle line, Piccadilly line and central sections of the Metropolitan and Central lines on Thursday, with other lines due to start later and finish earlier with less frequent services than usual.
However, other rail services including the Elizabeth line, London Overground, national rail and DLR services will run as normal. Buses will probably be crowded and slowed by more congested roads than usual.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We are grateful to our customers for their patience while they made their journeys on Tuesday in spite of the disruption on our network caused by the RMT’s industrial action.
“Oyster and contactless card taps were only down by around 10% across the whole day, showing that Londoners and visitors to the city were still able to travel despite the strike action.”
Contactless ticketing data showed that, while Tube journeys were down by 41%, passengers numbers were significantly higher than normal on buses, the Overground and Elizabeth line.
The spokesperson added: “We managed to run services on most lines, with the Jubilee line in particular running almost 90% of normally scheduled kilometres. We continue to urge the RMT to work with us to resolve their questions on the proposed four-day week.”
Services returned to normal without any residual impact from the strike on Wednesday morning, TfL said.
The RMT declined to comment. It has not scheduled any further strikes on the underground. Talks between the union and TfL are expected next week.
Traffic & Transport
London tube strike to go ahead after 11th-hour talks fail to find resolution | London Underground
The strike on the London Underground will go ahead on Tuesday after a day of talks failed to avert industrial action.
About half of London’s tube drivers will take action, bringing widespread transport disruption to the capital. A second strike is planned for Thursday.
Hopes of a resolution were high after previous threatened action was suspended in May. However, despite 11th-hour negotiations at Acas between RMT union representatives and Transport for London (TfL), RMT drivers will strike on Tuesday and Thursday in a dispute over the introduction of a four-day working week.
TfL urged customers to check before travel, although it hopes to run about half of all tube services. Drivers in Aslef, a slight majority of those working on the tube, have welcomed the four-day week proposals and will not be on strike, limiting the impact of the RMT’s action.
Nonetheless, no service is expected on the Circle or Piccadilly lines, or in central sections of the Metropolitan and Central lines, during the strike. Tube services will also finish earlier and later than usual on functioning lines.
Other rail services, including the Elizabeth line, the London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway, will run as normal. Buses will operate as usual but are likely to be very busy and slowed by additional traffic on the roads.
The RMT union blamed TfL’s “refusal to engage meaningfully” with concerns over the proposed working patterns. A spokesperson said: “Despite our best efforts in ACAS talks, TfL have failed to provide assurances on our members deeply held concerns around fatigue, reduced flexibility, shift lengths and the impact these proposals could have in a safety-critical role like tube driving.
“We remain available for meaningful talks, but strike action tomorrow will now go ahead.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “It is bitterly disappointing that despite five hours of meetings with the RMT at ACAS and repeated assurances that the four-day working week proposals will remain voluntary, RMT has chosen to continue with its disruptive strike action. We will do all we can to provide as much service as possible during this action.”
TfL’s chief operating officer, Claire Mann, said: “Our proposals are, and have always been, clear. The completely voluntary four-day week has been designed to improve work-life balance and any of our tube drivers who do not wish to take up the new proposed way of working and associated changes to working arrangements can remain on a five-day working pattern.”
The strikes will take effect for 24 hours from 00.01 on both Tuesday and Thursday – potentially slightly less disruptive than the previous walkouts that ran over two 24-hour periods starting from midday, affecting four days in April.
Business groups said that even the threat of strikes had already been disruptive. Ed Richardson of BusinessLDN said: “For many businesses that rely on people visiting in person, the impact of these strikes will have already been felt through cancelled bookings and people changing their plans.
“We urge both sides to reach a sustainable agreement to put an end to the damaging uncertainty hanging over businesses and London’s economy.”
Traffic & Transport
London tube strikes to go ahead on Tuesday and Thursday, RMT says | London Underground
Strikes by drivers on London Underground next week will go ahead, the RMT union has announced, paving the way for more days of transport disruption.
Two 24-hour stoppages are to take place, from 00.01 to 23.59 on Tuesday 2 June and Thursday 4 June, because of differences over a planned four-day week.
An RMT spokesperson said: “Strike action by London Underground drivers next week is scheduled to go ahead following TfL’s continued refusal to engage meaningfully with the union’s concerns over the proposed compressed four-day working arrangements.
“Our members have raised serious concerns around fatigue, longer shifts, reduced flexibility and the impact these proposals could have in a safety-critical role.”
Transport for London said it expected services on most tube lines during the strike, but has told commuters to expect disruption. It added that other services including the Elizabeth line, London Overground, DLR and tram would run as scheduled, but would be busier than normal.
TfL has said its proposals for a four-day week would be trialled on a voluntary basis. Its proposal has been endorsed by the Aslef union, which represents a slight majority of tube drivers.
Claire Mann, the chief operating officer at TfL, said it was disappointed that the RMT was continuing its industrial action.
“We still believe that the points they have raised can be worked out in time, through more detailed discussions and we are continuing to talk to the union’s representatives to find a way to avoid disruption to London,” she said.
She urged the RMT to work with TfL to resolve the dispute, adding: “A significant number of drivers have indicated that they want us to progress plans for the pilot of this new working pattern on the Bakerloo line, bringing benefits both for our colleagues and our customers.”
The RMT’s opposition to London Underground plans for a voluntary four-day week has already led to industrial action, most recently in April.
Hopes were raised that differences between the two sides might soon be resolved when the RMT called off at the last minute a two-day strike planned for mid-May.
However, at the same time the union also moved forward further strikes planned for 16 and 18 June to 2 and 4 June, saying the dispute was not over and that it was prepared to take more industrial action if the two sides failed to make sufficient progress.
The RMT said it remained “available for meaningful talks” with TfL, but cautioned London Underground against carrying out what it called a change to drivers’ working conditions “while refusing to properly address legitimate safety and workplace concerns”.
Previous waves of industrial action by the RMT over the four-day week proposals had found little public sympathy and had also mystified Aslef, which felt the proposal presented a significant improvement in working conditions for tube drivers.
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