EastSheenMatters reported on 20 March 2026 that Richmond Council had decided to prefer Forest to Lime in the e-bike battle. ESM asked whether Lime might seek to review the decision in the courts.
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Lime seems to have adopted a different approach. It is reported today in the Times that Lime has been promoting a petition urging residents to press the Council to reconsider their decision.
The Council reports: “It has been brought to the council’s attention via a resident that they have been contacted by email, phone and content ‘pushed’ to the resident and presumably other residents of the borough, via the Lime app promoting a petition.”
The term astroturf lobbying seems to have entered the local lexicon!
The Council have issued a ‘cease and desist letter’.
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There needs to a cease and desist ruling against the users of these hire bikes riding like idiots, steering with one hand whilst looking at their phones and parking in the most ludicrous manner.
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ESM has raised the question whether an e-bike provider should be able to control the obvious illegalities like cycling on the pavement, given the inability of the Police or the Council to do so. That has never been on the agenda for Lime. It does not look as if this is part of the present negotiations with Forest. All we know is that the Council will benefit more from the income, that the number of bikes permitted will increase and that the number of bike stands will increase, primarily in Richmond and not in East Sheen or Mortlake.
In passing it is worth noting the distinction between Sheffield Stands, which can be on the pavement, and e-bike stands which should be on the road, with the potential of taking up car parking spaces. The Council’s view is that if a bike is being placed in a stand, the cyclist should dismount and push the bike to the stand, rather than cycle to it along the pavement, that being illegal.
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