2024-11-30 – News – www.theguardian.com
Cycle chaos on streets has made the south-west London area a ‘scrapyard’, threatening pedestrians’ safety, say householders
Anyone popping into Harrods for a lobster roll at lunch or to pick up a new Jimmy Choo handbag in advance of the Christmas rush may have to watch their step on nearby pavements in case they walk into a haphazardly parked e-bike.
The streets surrounding the historic department store have become the unlikely latest front in the problem of e-bikes being dumped on thoroughfares, blocking pedestrians and causing disruption to disabled people, who are trying to navigate the already densely populated paths. Residents in Kensington complain that there are so many e-bikes being parked in some of the streets that they have difficulty leaving their multi-million-pound homes. The area, they say, has turned into a “scrapyard” as tourists and commuters dump the rental bikes on the pavement when the designated collection bays are full.
