Beryl e-bike already found dumped and damaged in Worcester

A Worcester News reporter who was attempting to hire the bikes for a feature unfortunately discovered that one of the bikes highlighted on the app as available was damaged.

The app was showing no available Beryl bike outside The Oak Apple near Spetchley Road but one available bike near Tesco Express on London Road.

However, the e-bike was discovered dumped and damaged on Friday (June 21) just days after the new e-bike scheme was introduced on Monday (June 17).

The bike was rendered unusable as a fixture on its chain had fallen away while a bike light and plastic casing had also broken off.

This is despite a reported £10 fine for users who dump their Beryl bike on the pavement, rather than using one of the 35 designated bays around Worcester, which is designed to act as a deterrent.

A spokesperson for Beryl said: "It’s always disappointing to see the results of vandalism or antisocial behaviour and we would appeal to anyone misusing the bikes to please respect them and ensure they are available for other people to use.

“We will work with West Mercia Police to investigate any incidents of theft or criminal damage and retain the option to suspend and ban/remove accounts for improper use of the scheme.

“You can report incidents of vandalism or antisocial behaviour involving our e-bikes quickly and easily to our customer support team.”

Beryl's customer support team can be contacted by phone on 020 3003 5044 between 7am and 9pm Monday-to-Sunday, by email at support@beryl.cc or through the Beryl app.

Beryl Bikes are available to anyone aged 16 or over who will now be able to cycle between bays.

However, anyone flaunting the rules and dumping the bikes on pavements will be hit with a £10 fine. 

At the launch, Beryl CEO and co-founder Phil Ellis said: "We've had the pandemic which has seen massive shifts in how people want to travel and now we have a scheme in Hereford that's really successful and hopefully we can replicate that in Worcester."