Police have new weapon to stop e-scooters, as council introduces more

Handheld spray devices will be given to officers, allowing them to spray a traceable forensic solution from up to 10 metres away.

The spray is designed to link an offender to the exact scene of an incident, helping police gather evidence.

Thames Valley police will also be using the tool, the BBC reported in April.

The Smart Tag technology can link individuals and vehicles to specific incidents through a unique, traceable code, relating to the pressurised canister it was sprayed from.

The crackdown comes amid Oxfordshire’s e-bike and e-scooter expansion planned.

The scheme, which currently focuses on city centre e-scooters, will broaden to include both e-bikes and e-scooters across a much wider region.

The central Oxfordshire area, covering Oxford, Botley, Kidlington, and possibly Abingdon and Wheatley, will be included in the expanded initiative.

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Lime bikes in Oxford (Image: Andy Ffrench)

E-bikes will also be introduced in the Science Vale area, around Didcot, Culham, and Harwell, as well as in Bicester.

Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) intends to appoint a single operator for both e-bikes and e-scooters throughout the county.

The expansion plan includes stricter parking controls, with hired scooters and bikes being parked only in mandatory parking locations pre-arranged by the council or the relevant landowner.

Many residents are wary of the plans, Lord Krebs speaking on the matter in the House of Lords said: “Where I live in Oxford, one of the problems with e-bikes and e-scooters is that all too often they’re dumped on the footpath, blocking the way particularly for mothers with prams and pushchairs and for elderly people and the sight impaired.”

Peter Hitchens, author and newspaper columnist, has consistently called for the licensing of e-scooters and e-bikes.

He said the e-scooters and e-bikes are an absolute “mess” and “everywhere” and said there has been an “experiment” for more than four years that nobody knows if it has succeeded or not.

Thames Valley Police, which covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, has already seized more than 100 illegal machines in recent operations and warned that privately owned e‑scooters used on public roads risk fines, penalty points and confiscation.

According to the report, Thames Valley officers use SmartTag to mark suspects and their vehicles during incidents, with anyone stopped later subject to UV checks to see if they carry the forensic code.

A briefing to the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel states that the spray remains on skin, clothing and other surfaces for extended periods, strengthening the evidential link between offenders and specific crime scenes.