What is an e-scooter?

They're two-wheeled scooters with small, electric motors.

Their popularity has grown and scooter-sharing schemes now operate in more than 100 cities around the world - including San Francisco, Paris and Copenhagen.

People can hire e-scooters, often using smartphone apps, in a way similar to city centre bicycle hire schemes.

Electric scooters are freely available to buy in the UK online and in stores, and they cost anywhere from just over £100 to more than £1000.

Are e-scooters legal in the UK?

Currently, you can buy one but you can't ride it on a UK public road, cycle lane or pavement. Anyone who does is committing an offence.

The only place an e-scooter can be used is on private land, with the permission of the landowner.

At the moment, they are classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs), so they're treated as motor vehicles and are subject to all the same legal requirements - MOT, tax, licensing and specific construction.

So, because they don't always have visible rear red lights, number plates or signalling ability, they can't be used legally on the roads.

The law covering e-bikes - which are battery-assisted pedal cycles - doesn't currently cover e-scooters, but the government wants to regulate them in a similar way in future.

There is currently a program in place by The UK Government where they are looking into hire schemes, similar to the Next Bike model. These hired e-scooters could be used legally on roads and cycle lanes but privately owned e-scooters would not be covered under this scheme. There are currently no e-scooter hire schemes in Wales.