Checkpoint Charlie' Rival ebike firms turn London path into a bridge too far

Scattered across pavements, propped against trees and toppled over in bushes, dozens of electric Lime bikes have begun to dominate a 200-metre stretch of road just south of Chiswick Bridge in west London.

- Kaamil Ahmed

This is the point where the motors on the hire bikes abruptly stop functioning as they cross the boundary between Richmond and Hounslow, a frontline in what residents describe as a turf war between rival companies.

While ebikes for hire are an increasingly popular mode of transport in London, fractured regulation means customers can ride them through some boroughs with ease but find they cannot ride or park them in others.

This has led to bikes accumulating on either side of Chiswick Bridge as customers are forced to abandon them.

The comedian Dara Ó Briain posted on X this week it had turned the bridge into "Checkpoint Charlie": "Hounslow council have banned Lime bikes, and licensed Forest and Voi; neighbouring Richmond has licensed Lime and banned the others. So every bridge is Checkpoint Charlie, with loads of Lime bikes parked on one side and loads of Forest and Voi on the other."

Top work everyone!

Thomas Letch, who works for a sports recruitment company in Richmond, said he now needed two subscriptions to cycle hire companies to get to work.

"It's a sort of turf wars with ebikes," said Letch, who had arrived on a Forest bike, crossed the bridge on foot and was unlocking a Lime bike for the final leg of his journey to work.