Oxfordshire police chief says there is countywide issue with food delivery drivers who 'illegally modify' bikes

Chief constable Jason Hogg made the comment at an Annual Crime and Disorder Meeting held at the end of July where he was grilled, along with Thames Valley police and crime commissioner Matthew Barber, on topics related to the force which included transport issues.

A rise in the popularity of food delivery services has also seen an increase in the use of bikes around cities for the service, and many drivers have come to switch to an electric one.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Hogg said: “At a lot of these council meetings, e-bikes and e-scooters are mentioned all the time.

“It is an issue that is affecting the public. There is a gap in the legislation around this.

“We have got an issue with food delivery riders – a lot of them have illegally modified e-bikes – some of which can go 40 miles an hour.

“I’m not naming any companies but certainly if we had a delivery driver in Oxford city centre on those bikes it’s also just not safe for us (police) in a vehicle to pursue those.”

The response came following a question asked by Conservative councillor Nigel Simpson.

Mr Simpson had said: “I come into Oxford every Sunday – you walk through the parks and suddenly you get onto High Street and then you’re just constantly looking because they’re coming zooming down there – the Deliveroo riders as well.

“You do question if they’ve got a licence, the ones on the mopeds – are there any random checks that we’re doing for those riders?”

Police chief superintendent Benedict Clark said Mr Simpson’s question “ties into the wider piece around antisocial behaviour”.

He added: “Our neighbourhood teams are engaged in those proactive operations particularly around e-scooters – particularly around e bikes.”

He said Oxfordshire and “particularly Oxford city” is “probably one of the leaders for those operations in terms of targeting e-scooters and e-bikes”.

Mr Hogg mentioned some schools had said they’re going to start doing a “complete ban” on any child being allowed to go to school on an e-scooter or e-bike to make it “very clear that is not acceptable”.

In October last year, around 30 Deliveroo drivers gathered outside Carfax in the city centre to demand higher pay.

Their leader, Nelson, from East Timor, who had been with Deliveroo for five years, said the drivers were requesting an increase from £3.15 to £4.50 for every motorbike delivery and £2.90 to £3.50 per bike order.