Seized e-bikes and e-scooters resold by police to public auctions despite crime fears, BBC investigation finds

Electric bikes and e-motorcycles confiscated by police forces across the UK are being listed for sale to the public on commercial auction websites, in some cases at a fraction of their retail price, despite concerns that the machines could find their way back into the hands of offenders. A BBC investigation found e-bikes advertised with the phrase "sold at the direction of police", including one Chinese-manufactured electric dirt bike auctioned from Falkirk this month with an opening bid of just £250 — against a listed retail price of £3,295 for a new model of the same kind.

Thousands of such vehicles are seized every year by officers who suspect they are being ridden illegally or have been used in the course of offending. The overwhelming majority are destroyed, but the BBC's review of force-by-force figures suggests a significant minority are instead sold on, with proceeds going back to police budgets or local causes.

Police forces across the country sold 161 e-bikes and e-motorcycles last year, compared with 54 in 2024. The true total is likely to be higher: not every force responded to the BBC's Freedom of Information request. Six forces confirmed that some of the vehicles they had seized had been sold, among them large organisations such as West Midlands Police and Police Scotland. Several others said they have now abandoned the practice altogether.

Some senior officers and campaigners argue the practice is defensible because it returns money to policing. Others say it is a public relations problem at best and a security risk at worst, pointing to a series of fatal collisions and high-profile offending involving modified machines.

Police Scotland, which has responsibility for the whole of Scotland, said it sends seized e-bikes to an accredited recycler, who may then choose to auction them, with the proceeds returning to the force. Last year, 93 e-bikes seized by Police Scotland were sold — more than any other force in Britain. In Northern Ireland and Wales, responsibility for policing sits with devolved authorities rather than territorial forces, and the picture there was not fully established by the BBC's figures.

West Yorkshire Police sold two e-bikes at auction last year. The force said the money raised was split between the police force and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, with some cash distributed to "local good causes". It stressed that every bike sold was "legally compliant".

West Midlands Police, which sold 12 e-bikes last year, said the "vast majority" of bikes it seized were destroyed, with only a "small number" passed to "an independent auction company so that the money can be put back into policing".

The debate extends beyond e-bikes to e-scooters, which are increasingly a fixture on pavements and in city centres. It is illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter on public land, although owning one is not itself an offence. Durham Constabulary sold three last year, while West Mercia Police sold one — and West Mercia separately sold 24 e-bikes. Both forces said they have since reviewed their policies and will no longer sell e-bikes or e-scooters. Durham, which sold 29 e-bikes in total last year, said they will now be "crushed without exception". Greater Manchester Police sold a single e-bike.

Clive Grunshaw, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, is among the loudest voices calling for an end to the sales. "There's nowhere apart from a back garden that these scooters can be legally used, so it's a confused message," he said, urging police forces to stop selling e-bikes altogether. He described them as the "transport of choice for drug gangs" because they are "so difficult to catch", and said he suspects some criminals whose bikes are confiscated simply repurchase them at auction.

His concern extends beyond simple resale. Legal e-bikes of the pedal-assisted type are capped at 15.5mph under motor power, and police sources say offenders routinely bypass that limit by fitting "tuning kits", often bought online from sellers in eastern Europe, which can push some machines to around 40mph. Grunshaw fears that criminals are buying entirely compliant bikes from auction and then fitting those illegal modifications, making the police sales desk an unwitting supply route.

The wider public anxiety about e-bikes has been sharpened by recent incidents. BBC reporting has documented cases of balaclava-clad young men riding the machines illegally along footpaths and intimidating residents. In one high-profile case last year, 86-year-old grandmother Gloria Stephenson was struck at a zebra crossing in Sunderland by an illegal e-motorbike, and killed.

Most seizures are handled through commercial auction platforms such as Raw2k, a company listed by several police forces. The site's listings routinely carry the description "sold at the direction of police", signalling to buyers exactly which kind of vehicle they are bidding on — and, critics say, effectively inviting the return of confiscated property to the general public, and potentially to crime.

The figures underscore how contested the policy has become. With a small but growing number of bikes now being sold publicly, and campaigners demanding a blanket ban, forces that continue to auction seized e-bikes are likely to face growing pressure to justify the practice. Those that have already switched to crushing or recycling every machine — Durham and West Mercia among them — have effectively conceded that the argument has been won.