E-scooter rider charged with drink-driving at twice the legal limit after passenger is injured

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A Liverpool man has been charged with riding an e-scooter while over over twice the legal limit, police said — the latest in a series of safety incidents involving the devices.

Tom Worrall, 28, was riding with another male passenger who fell off the scooter and sustained a severe ankle injury in Great George Street on Tuesday, Merseyside Police’s Road Policing Unit said.

Police also warned e-scooter users to avoid drinking and driving and refrain from carrying passengers.

It comes as a number of cities trial rental electric scooter schemes that can be used on roads.

The Swedish-based e-scooter company Voi launched in Liverpool in October last year. The year-long pilot scheme was a joint initiative of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Liverpool City Council and became a familiar sight in other metropolitan cities, including London.

Last month, Voi said the company added artificial noises to their scooters to emit danger warnings to pedestrians - particularly partially sighted and blind people.

Private e-scooters can only legally be used in the UK on private land but are nonetheless a common sight on roads and pavements.

In April, a three-year-old boy suffered serious injuries when he was hit from behind by an e-scooter while walking on a pavement with his grandmother in Feltham, west London.

YouTube star and TV presenter Emily Hartridge became the first person in the UK to be killed while riding an e-scooter when she was struck by a lorry in Battersea, south London, in July 2019.