Seized, Sold and Gone: Durham Police ‘Cashing in’ on the sale of Seized E-Bikes and Scooters...
Durham Police Crack Down on E-Bikes — Only Then To Sell Dozens of Them At Auction...
6th October 2026
Durham Constabulary has been found to have sold 40 e-bikes and e-scooters which had come into police possession between 2023 and 2025, newly published Freedom of Information figures have revealed.
The figures provide an unusual insight into what ultimately happens to electric bikes and scooters recovered by the force with no public confidence, with a significant proportion of those being seized apparently ending up being sold rather than returned to their owners or scrapped.
According to Durham Constabulary's response to the Freedom of Information request, the force recorded 101 recovered e-bikes and e-scooters during the three-year period. Of those, 40 of them were subsequently sold, with the biggest increase in sales during 2025.
Durham Police recorded 51 recovered e-bikes that year alone. Of those, 29 were then sold, 18 were returned, three were scrapped and one remained undisposed of.
A further 17 e-scooters were recovered during 2025, with three sold, two returned, eight scrapped and four remaining undisposed of.
Numbers Rise Sharply
During 2024, Durham Police recorded 22 recovered e-bikes. Seven of those were eventually sold, with nine returned to their owners, two scrapped and four remained undisposed of.
Two e-scooters were also recovered that year, with one subsequently sold and the other returned.
Across the three years, the figures show:
80 e-bikes recovered, with 36 sold.
21 e-scooters recovered, with four sold.
101 e-bikes and scooters recovered overall.
40 subsequently sold.
36 returned.
15 scrapped.
10 recorded as not disposed of.
Meaning, almost 40% of all of the e-bikes and e-scooters recorded in the figures were subsequently sold, despite them supposedly being illegal to use on the public road or footpath.
Police Seize Them — But Where Do They End Up?
The figures are particularly interesting amid increasingly visible police operations targeting illegally ridden or illegally modified e-bikes and e-scooters.
Police forces have repeatedly warned riders that vehicles can be seized where they do not comply with road traffic legislation or are being ridden unlawfully.
However, what receives considerably less publicity is what ultimately happens to some of those vehicles afterwards & whether police forces are 'cashing in' on the sale of illegal scooters & bikes that are not permitted to be used on public roads.
The FOI request specifically asked Durham Constabulary how many seized e-bikes and scooters had later been sold, explaining that some police forces have long-standing arrangements under which recovered or seized property can ultimately be sold, including through auctions.
Durham Constabulary confirmed that it held the requested information and disclosed its disposal figures.
From no e-bikes or scooters sold in 2023, Durham Police's number increased to eight in 2024 before surging to 32 during 2025, suggesting the force which is currently under immense scrutiny has been making a lucrative side income from the sale of vehicles its then seizing from members of the public.
And it means that while members of the public may regularly see images and videos of electric bikes and scooters being taken away during police operations, destruction is far from the only possible outcome, with Durham Constabulary's own figures, over the three years examined showing it sold more than twice as many e-bikes and e-scooters as it scrapped.
Raising the important question as to where all the money from the sale of those vehicles actually went ?
