DAMAGED Beryl Bikes left strewn on the city's pavements is 'disappointing', say city councillors.

Since the bikes were launched on Monday, June 17, the company's on-street teams have recovered 86 e-bikes that were damaged as a result of anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Jabbar Riaz, Worcester City Council's deputy leader, said: "It's disappointing that a large proportion of the bikes have been damaged, it's unacceptable.

"We have been delighted with usage statistics we have seen from Beryl so far and it bodes well for the future of the scheme and e-bikes as a whole.

"But vandalism is concerning as it will affect the number of bikes that are available to those who use them regularly."

City councillor Adam Scott, who represents Cathedral Ward, said: "Damaged bikes are probably inevitable at the beginning of the scheme. It's unacceptable, but expected in some ways.

"When you see these bike schemes in cities such as Oxford and London, damage is quite commonplace."

Beryl also confirmed that their on-street teams have recovered 464 e-bikes found outside of a bay thus far, equating to 4.5 per cent of the total journeys taken in Worcester.

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A spokesperson for Beryl said: "We’ve been delighted with the initial response to the launch of the Worcester e-bike share scheme, with thousands of people already giving shared sustainable transport a go.

"However, 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 accounts for improper use of the scheme.

"Although still a relatively small percentage of overall journeys, we expect the number of e-bikes being recovered to drop significantly as the scheme becomes more established in Worcester and familiarity increases."

Incidents of vandalism or antisocial behaviour involving Beryl e-bikes can be reported to their customer support team by phone on 02030035044 between 7am and 9pm each day by email at support@beryl.cc or through the Beryl app.