Senior Essex councillors are calling on the government to do more to improve the safety of e-scooters as part of a crackdown on illegal use.

Tendring District Council members are taking the matter to the Department of Transport following reports of rising levels of illegally-ridden scooters in the district.

Members are calling for safety helmets to be compulsory and that all e-scooters are fitted with indicator lights as well as generate low level noise so they are heard.

A decision to write to the government was made on Friday.

It comes about six weeks after acting Chief Inspector Martin Richards, Tendring District Commander with Essex Police, told the council in September about the levels of children illegally riding the scooters.

At the meeting, the officer said it had concerned the force, but parents said officers should focus on other work.

But by educating riders and encouraging them not to use privately-owned e-scooters in a public area, Essex Police said it hoped that the number of e-scooters being used illegally, and any perceived antisocial behaviour, will be reduced.

In a report to the council's cabinet heard on Friday, November 12, it said: “That representations be made to the Department of Transport to the effect that riders of E-Scooter must be required to wear safety helmets, that E-Scooters be required to generate a low level noise to make them audible for safety reasons and that they are fitted with indicator lights.”

Essex has seen an explosion in the number of e-scooters but only those run at six trial sites are legal to be driven on a public highway.

The sites including Clacton and Colchester are run by Spin as part of government trials.

Essex County Council, in partnership with Spin, had launched an e-scooter trial in Clacton on March 1.

Spin has confirmed it is no longer operating in Clacton with the trial finishing at the end of October 2021.