Islington Council has warned e bike hire firms Lime and Forest that they could lose permission to operate in the borough unless ongoing issues around parking and rider behaviour are resolved. The council has described the situation as serious enough to place both companies on a final notice, marking a clear escalation in the Islington e bike hire warning.
Council leader Una O’Halloran and executive member Rowena Champion wrote to the companies on 11 December, citing what they called “persistent problems” that they said “remain unresolved”. The concerns include bikes blocking pavements, riders running red lights and parking bays becoming overcrowded.
Ms O’Halloran said the council was not opposed to cycling and recognised its benefits, but highlighted safety and access issues. “I’m not against cyclists and we see the benefits of bikes in the borough, but there are problems,” she said, pointing in particular to dangerous parking and riding.
She called for tighter parking restrictions and the use of geofencing to stop bikes being used in housing estates. She also said councils should be able to regulate the number of hire bikes operating locally, adding that she would ask the companies to stop operating in Islington if the issues were not addressed, reinforcing the seriousness of the Islington e bike hire warning.
Over the past year, Islington Council has installed 115 dedicated bike hire bays and removed more than 200 badly parked bikes from its streets. However, Ms O’Halloran said: “we cannot solve these issues alone”. She added that she had asked Lime and Forest to “work with us to solve this problem together”.
In their open letter, the council leaders set out further requirements to “ensure the schemes’ sustainable future”. One demand was that companies should stop operating between 23:00 and 06:00 in areas where there had been repeated complaints about night time noise.
Local residents have raised concerns about disturbance. Deborah Smith, who has lived in Islington for 30 years, said two parking spaces outside her home had recently been replaced with Lime e bike bays. She said she had been woken repeatedly by people collecting and returning bikes, as well as riders ringing bells overnight.
She said Lime should remove the bay and “put them somewhere non-residential”, adding, “no one asked us if we wanted it here or not”. She also said: “We woke up one day and it was there. It’s taken away two parking spaces for which we pay parking permits.”
In response, Forest said it was engaging with the council. Alex Berwin, the company’s head of policy, said Forest “cares deeply about making a positive impact in the city” and that it remained “committed to being a responsible operator and a constructive partner to Islington Council”.
He said the company was investing in improved parking technology, clearer in app guidance and better instructions “to help users park responsibly and reduce street clutter”. He also said Forest’s local team “responded quickly” to reported issues and that it was the only operator to have fully stopped night time servicing to reduce disruption.
Lime also said it was working with the council. A spokesperson said that while “some overnight operations are essential” to keep bikes charged and available, the company was “working with the council on practical steps to minimise disruption for residents, especially during the night”.
The company said high demand had contributed to parking problems, stating: “Record demand for our service has led to some parking challenges in Islington, which we’re working to address.” Lime added that it had helped fund more than 150 dedicated parking bays in the borough and had teams responding to misparked bikes and overcrowded bays “faster than ever”.
