As more dockless bikes descend on Cambridge, the city’s MP, Daniel Zeichner, redoubles his calls on the Government to provide councils with more powers to be able to regulate the schemes.

He says: “With the announcements of Mobike setting up in Cambridge, alongside Ofo’s plans to bring thousands more of its dockless bikes to the city, it is vital that local authorities are given the powers that they need to be able to regulate these schemes. Encouraging cycling is, of course, great, but some councils have been put in positions where they have to clean up the mess made by some less scrupulous operators.”

“I met with the Local Government Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, on this issue, who said it wasn’t his department’s responsibility and passed it to the Department for Transport. I’ve asked to meet the Transport Minister multiple times, and still haven’t heard back. I’ve been applying for debates on dockless bikes too; the Government need to face up to the challenge, and work with local authorities to make these schemes work for everyone.”

“In some places around the country, some dockless bikes have been left in the way of wheelchair users, or those with pushchairs; operators must work with councils to make sure this does not happen. Cambridge City Council have drawn up a Code of Practice, which I hope anyone working in the city will abide by, but to make it legally enforceable, the government must devolve more power to councils to keep these schemes safe for everyone. “