Shedfield recycling firm helps police crush illegal e-bikes and e-scooters
By Google News Motors ·
A Shedfield vehicle recycling company is helping police take illegal e-bikes and e-scooters off the streets by crushing seized vehicles at its local facility.
Silverlake Automotive Recycling, based on Botley Road, is working with Sussex Police and Dorset Police to ensure vehicles seized during enforcement operations cannot return to the roads.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne and Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick visited the company’s recycling facility on November 3rd to see the destruction process.
The crackdown targets illegally ridden e-scooters, non-compliant electric bikes and unlawfully ridden electric motorcycles.
Sussex Police’s Operation Scramble and Dorset Police’s Operation Think are tackling the use of these vehicles in antisocial behaviour and criminal activity.
Sussex and Surrey Police introduced a new ‘no returns’ policy on November 1st, allowing eligible seized vehicles to be permanently destroyed following assessment.
Silverlake removes hazardous materials before crushing the vehicles, preventing them from returning to circulation.
Allen Prebble, Silverlake’s managing director, said: “At Silverlake, we greatly value our strong and collaborative relationships with both Sussex Police and Dorset Police. Working as partners, we’ve been able to support their vital efforts in promoting public safety and tackling crime, while showcasing the importance of responsible vehicle recycling.”
He added: “We’re proud to play our part in contributing to these initiatives that help to keep people safe by responsibly depolluting and crushing the seized vehicles to ensure they cannot end up back on the road, or in the hands of criminal gangs to use for repeated criminal activity.”
Sussex Police received 2,504 reports of illegally ridden e-bikes and e-scooters in the 12 months to June 2026, an increase of nearly 54 per cent on the previous year.
Silverlake already works with police in Hampshire. As previously reported by the Meon Valley Times, the company provides its Shedfield facilities and vehicles for training officers from the Hampshire Roads Policing Training Unit.
Hampshire Police has also been cracking down on illegal electric vehicles. Earlier this year, the Meon Valley Times reported on hundreds of e-scooters and e-bikes seized by the force.
Not all electric bikes are illegal. Pedal-assisted cycles that meet legal requirements can be used on roads and cycle routes.
However, privately owned e-scooters cannot legally be ridden on public roads or in public places. Authorised rental schemes operate under separate rules.
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Originally published by Google News Motors
