PRIVATE owners are being warned they risk losing their e-scooters permanently if they are caught riding them in public.

Police have taken to Facebook to announce that anyone caught flouting the law a second time will have their scooter seized.

A spokesperson for Minehead and West Somerset Neighbourhood Policing said: "This week we have had to give warnings to people using private e-scooters on the public highway.

"We want to take a moment to remind you that privately owned e-scooters must not be used anywhere in public.

"Warnings are being recorded on a database and anybody who is stopped on a second occasion could face having their scooter seized.

"If this happens you will not be able to have it returned."

e-scooters are defined as 'powered transporters' and the law says it is illegal to use them:

  • on a public road without complying with a number of legal requirements, which potential users will find very difficult;
  • in spaces that are set aside for use by pedestrians, cyclists, and horse-riders; this includes on the pavement and in cycle lanes.

The exceptional is for use on a public road of e-scooters in an official trial, such as in Minehead.

Any person who uses a powered transporter on a public road or other prohibited space in breach of the law is committing a criminal offence and can be prosecuted.

It is legal to use a powered transporter on private land with the permission of the land owner