West Midlands Police in Birmingham seized and destroyed a Birmingham delivery cyclist bike seized case on 24 April 2026 after officers treated a legal Tern HSD S00 as an illegal e-motorbike. The rider was also handed a fixed penalty notice for riding without insurance, a claim that sits uneasily beside the source description of compliant e-bikes in the UK.
The stop came at 8.15pm on New Street, Birmingham. The bike, described as a £6,000 electric cargo-bike, had been rented for a few months through Birmingham Bike Foundry’s Gear Shift scheme, backed by £80,000 from Birmingham City Council.
Gear Shift at Birmingham Bike Foundry
Allama of Birmingham Bike Foundry said the scheme was built for local trips and had drawn steady demand. “It’s aimed to reduce car journeys within the local community,” he said. “And it’s been really popular, loads of people have taken us up on it.”
He added: “Some people have even bought cargo bikes from us as well.” “The bikes are constantly out, so lots of people really enjoy using them.” The shop said its fleet included around 30 e-cargo bikes, and the bike taken that night was part of that council-funded pool.
New Street stop on 24 April 2026
Campaigners said officers checked the bike by raising the back wheel and spinning the pedals before deciding its speed had gone beyond the legal limit. That test matters because a compliant e-bike is described as an electrically assisted pedal cycle with pedals, a maximum continuous rated power not exceeding 250 watts, and assistance that cuts off at 15.5mph.
Under that definition, riders do not need to register or insure the bicycle. West Midlands Police nonetheless said the cyclist was stopped and given a fixed penalty notice for riding without insurance, then took the bike away and destroyed it.
West Midlands Police and insurance
The collision between the police account and the legal description of a compliant e-bike is the point that now matters most to riders using council-backed cargo-bike schemes. A bike hired for ordinary use was treated as if it were a motorbike, and the loss was immediate: the rider no longer has the machine, and the shop has a missing bike from a limited fleet.
Last June, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking warned that dangerous fake e-bikes were undermining the UK's cycling efforts. That warning now sits beside a very different case in Birmingham, where a legal bike was removed after a roadside test campaigners say was faulty. The remaining issue is the basis West Midlands Police relied on before deciding to destroy it.
