“Looks legit”: Police seize bizarre illegal electric mountain bike/scooter hybrid with “more wiring than the average car” – but “genius motorised penny-farthing” praised; “Do they pay road tax?” Anti-cycling bingo; Crunch Vuelta TT + more on the live blog

It’s fair to say 2026 has been the year of the police e-bike seizure in the UK (among other things, of course). Officers up and down the land have been nabbing high-speed illegally modified bikes in a concerted, nationwide effort to clamp down on dangerous riding and anti-social behaviour.

Last month, we reported that, according to data supplied by 31 police forces across the UK, 7,049 bikes were deemed to be illegal and confiscated by police in the 12 months to 19 May, compared to the 3,858 seized the previous year, a huge 83 per cent jump.

They don’t always get it right, mind you, but it’s clear they’re trying.

However, of those 7,000-plus illegal bikes seized, I’m not sure any were more bizarre, baffling, or – let’s face it – creatively engineered than this, ahem, work of art in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, this week:

I’m genuinely lost for words, I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Not quite your average push bike…” Ashfield Police said in a rather understated social media post this week.

“Officers from Kirkby in Ashfield came across this rather interesting piece of DIY engineering today. At first glance, it looked like a mountain bike. A closer inspection revealed a scooter motor, plenty of wiring, and enough tape to keep the local DIY shop in business.”

It’s like some niche, forgotten mythical creature, with the head of a bike and the rear end of a scooter. A Velocicooter, or something, I don’t know, I haven’t had my coffee yet.

And it features so much DIY wiring, I’m surprised Vicky McClure and her bomb disposal team didn’t turn up on the scene:

‘Ah come on officer, you can’t tell me that doesn’t look safe!’

The police continued: “The creation was capable of reaching around 28mph. Unfortunately for its rider, adding pedals doesn’t automatically make something a legal electric bicycle.

“To qualify as an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle, the electrical assistance must cut off at 15.5mph, alongside meeting the other legal requirements. Once a vehicle falls outside those requirements, it may be treated as a motor vehicle and requirements such as a driving licence and insurance can apply.

“At 28mph, this one had officially gone from ‘push bike’ to ‘please pull over’.”

A bit of a corny joke, I’ll admit, but at least Ashfield’s officers know the law concerning electric bikes, which is a plus.

> Police sergeant claims “under current legislation e-bikes are deemed to be motor vehicles” after targeted crackdown on illegal “nuisance” vehicles

“Unfortunately, the impressive collection of tape and cable ties didn’t include an insurance policy. The vehicle was therefore seized under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988,” they wrote.

“Moral of the story: if your bicycle has more wiring than the average police car and does nearly 30mph, it might be worth checking the law before taking it for a spin.”

Unsurprisingly, most visitors to Ashfield Police’s Facebook page were either simply baffled or eager to poke fun at Nottinghamshire’s latest two-wheeled invention.

“Looks legit,” Drew Billham wrote under the photo of all those safe, safe wires.

“That’s mint, I have an old e-bike with 10” wheels but thinking of turning it into a Chopper,” added Dave. Now there’s an idea that could keep Raleigh in business…

> “There are bigger issues to tackle than people on e-bikes”: How a bike shop turned detectives to track down a cargo bike wrongly seized and destroyed by the police

Others were just impressed at the engineering skills and creativity that went into this Frankenstein-esque machine.

“You know what? I admire the work that went into that. Guy had a vision and followed through,” wrote Marc. “Shame about the legality of it, but fair play to him for the effort.”

And Michael said: “That is genius, a bit like a small motorised penny-farthing. Get that person a qualification in engineering. Don’t punish creativity, otherwise robots we become.”

A small motorised penny-farthing? Get Jeremy Vine on the phone now, I have an investment opportunity for him…

In this week’s other police social media news, yesterday we reported on the live blog that Norfolk Constabulary had released footage (with some jazzy graphics and music) of its latest close pass operation, which saw eight drivers pulled over for failing to give the force’s plain-clothes cycling officer enough space on the road.

“How much space should you leave when overtaking a cyclist? The answer is at least 1.5 metres,” Norfolk Constabulary said in the post, which accompanied a video showing the litany of close passes faced by the officer last week.

“During a recent Close Pass operation in Thetford, officers stopped eight motorists whose driving could have put cyclists at risk.

“The initiative is designed to help drivers understand why their actions may have been careless or inconsiderate and to increase awareness of the hazards routinely faced by cyclists.

“A little more patience and consideration can make a big difference in preventing collisions and keeping Norfolk’s roads safe for everyone.”

Which all sounds fair enough, right? Surely nobody could have any problem with that road safety message?

Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned from my many years operating this live blog, it’s to never underestimate angry drivers on the internet. Callum gave us some insight into the murky world of the police’s Facebook comments section yesterday, but there’s been plenty more anti-cycling bingo action since. Get your cards at the ready…

“1.5 metres… shall I drive in the field across the road to overtake you then?” asked Andrew. “This is all well and good in town or decent size roads but on back roads and country it’s sometimes impossible.”

Meanwhile, David said: “They seem to require much less space when squeezing past in a queue of traffic before running a red light though, don’t they…”

First mention of red lights – good stuff, David. Line!

“So what rules are there for cycles’ road positions two next to each other???” asked a clearly confused Andrew. “When a cycles [sic] passes you on the inside can they only do it if the gap is 1.5m?”

Please, please could someone in the government run a public service campaign related to filtering? I can’t take any more of this.

Moving on to cycle lanes (naturally), Don suggested: “If a car driver can be fined for passing too close, then the cyclist should also be fined for not using the provided cycle paths.”

And don’t worry, they haven’t forgot about road tax or insurance.

“Do they pay road tax? No,” said Liam, right on cue, while Jon wrote: “When cyclists pay insurance to use the roads as car drivers do I’ll give them more room, until then I’m happy to carry on as normal.”

And by normal, I take it you mean constantly putting people’s lives in danger on the road, Jon?

And finally, Chris told the police: “Maybe you should also put out something making cyclists aware that they are just as responsible as motor vehicle drivers for using the road safely.

“A lot of them seem to think they have zero responsibility when it comes to road safety and it is all on the motor vehicle drivers.”

I reckon that’s a full house, right?

Thankfully, some (just some though) of the comments managed to give my hand a rest from all that rapid-fire anti-cycling bingo card marking.

“I’m a driver and a cyclist, I’m always shocked at the online hatred non-cycling motorists have for those that do ride,” interjected Gemma.

“Considering that the driver of the motor vehicle is highly unlikely to be the one that is killed through someone being impatient.

“The cyclists, enjoying their hobby, keeping fit or traveling without polluting the environment are risking their lives to do so because modern drivers have no patience and overtake dangerously, hate me or disagree with me all you like but everyone now is in such a hurry that common sense goes out the window.

“Yes, I agree there are inconsiderate people who ride bikes but there’s many more who drive cars and put others at risk just to get somewhere two minutes sooner.”

A fair, balanced, considerate comment about cycling on Facebook? Well, I never. Fair play, Gemma.

Oops…

To be fair to Ned and whoever is in charge of his podcast’s social media posts, I’m surprised we haven’t accidentally started calling young Brennan ‘Cav’, the way he’s going at this Vuelta.

> Tributes paid to “vital member of the Scottish cycling community” killed by driver during club ride