The 500 extra e-scooters bolting towards Liverpool

Dear readers — welcome to a bittersweet Monday briefing, as Laurence says goodbye later this week to go off on paternity leave. But we couldn’t ask for a better replacement than one of Liverpool’s favourite writers, David Lloyd, who will be working alongside other exciting freelance contributors and our Abi in the run up to Christmas. Stay tuned to see what they’ll be delivering.

In case you missed it:

It’s been a busy few days at Post HQ. Friday saw an update for Abi’s investigation into the Writing on the Wall festival, plus this horror-comedy on the incoming Asian hornet invasion:

Waiting for the killer hornets

Plus: a Writing On The Wall update

The PostLaurence Thompson

On Saturday we dropped an equally huge follow-up: of the long-running but always shocking Eldonians saga, a piece that one reader has kindly described as “excellent, important and brave journalism”:

The mystery invoice and an expensive law firm: The Eldonian saga comes to court

For the first time in three years, Anthony McGann Jr speaks to The Post

The PostJack Walton

While all this was going on, Laurence was also knee-deep in an investigation, helping our sister paper the Sheffield Tribune track down a controversial Merseyside-based solicitor. See our Recommended Read below to find out more. 

Then on Sunday we officially announced our 12 December Christmas event with Liverpool horror legend Ramsey Campbell, to which you are all cordially invited. Book a ticket now to avoid disappointment; we’ve already sold more than half. Members, scroll down for a special discount code.

The big story: More E-scooters — fewer polluters, safer commuters?

Top line: Liverpool city council (LCC) have announced a deal with ‘micromobility’ firm Bolt to provide 2,000 scooters and 100 e-bikes for the city. But not everyone is welcoming the news.

Context: Five years ago, Swedish firm Voi first launched rental scooters in Liverpool — part of a Department for Transport scheme to provide pandemic-era alternatives to public travel, as well as piloting low-carbon transport options. This followed the Citybike initiative, which launched in 2014 but was suffering annual losses of £300,000.

Many in the city have declared the Voi pilot a success. Back in March, local tour guide Richard MacDonald told BBC Politics North West that the scooters were a boon: “I tend to use them when I need to get somewhere quickly and other forms of transport have let me down”. Nick Small, LCC’s cabinet member for growth and economy, has said the trial has “opened up new transport options for people[,] reduced car dependency, [and] reduced the number of times that people are spending on car journeys.” 

But now, Small says the new deal with Bolt is "a much better offer than we've got at the moment from Voi". From February next year, the scooters and bikes will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rather than the current arrangement of between 6am and midnight. Bolt will also cover areas Voi did not, such as Garston and Speke. 

"Launching micromobility in Liverpool, and our first ever scooter service in the UK, is a key step in Bolt's commitment to building better urban transport," said John Buckley, Bolt's head of micromobility for the UK. 

"With over 230,000 scooters and e-bikes operating in more than 270 cities across Europe, we've seen how micromobility can encourage environmentally friendlier travel, reduce car traffic, and connect people to public transport.” 

Controversy: But not everyone thinks the e-scooter roll-out has been an unalloyed success so far — including some of The Post’s readers.

“My Voi tales are not happy ones,” Rose Green wrote to us in 2023. “My husband uses a wheelchair and if I had £1 for every time I’ve had to squeeze him around a badly parked scooter — once even having to move the bloody thing — I’d be a lot richer than I am now.”

Back in March, Anfield resident Naomi Ditchfield told the BBC that as a visually impaired person, she and her guide dog Dottie despise e-scooters: "You can't hear them coming, to me they seem very fast and even when they are behind you, the drivers don't ring a bell or make a noise.” Naomi went on to say she and Dottie now seldom visit the city centre as a consequence. 

As for e-bikes, critics also say they are dangerous. A number of British politicians have taken a stand against motorised bikes and scooters, including MPs Judith Cummins and Jessica Morden, the latter of which stated “the dangerous and antisocial use of e-scooters is ‘a source of great anxiety’ for many of my constituents”. 

According to recent data available for e-scooter crashes, in 2024 there were nearly 50 reported collisions across Merseyside. Just two weeks ago, a Voi scooter was involved in a serious crash at the junction of Walton Breck Road and Miriam Road in Anfield. The rider sustained serious injuries (though not thought to be life-threatening) and was taken to hospital.

Bottom line: Small has said he understands not everyone has been convinced by the pilot scheme, but that Bolt’s e-scooters and e-bikes will be "well-regulated": users must be over 18 and provide driving licences before use. Both scooters and bikes will be limited to 15.5mph, and cognitive reaction tests on the app should combat drunk riding. 

Back in March, Richardr MacDonald told the BBC he felt it was private e-scooters that were giving Voi e-scooters a bad reputation. Riding a privately owned scooter on public land is in fact illegal. "They aren't regulated, the batteries can cause fires, you're not insured on them. The legal ones you have to sign up with your driving licence,”  MacDonald said. 

In addition, the council have said Bolt’s research demonstrated almost 50% e-bike and scooter journeys worldwide are to and from train and bus stations, suggesting that the Liverpool service could cut down on private car reliance. 

What do you think? Have you changed your mind on e-scooters and bikes since 2020? Let us know in the comments below.

Your Post briefing

Hope Street food and drink legend Paddy Byrne has died. The Toxteth-born hospitality maven set up the Everyman Bistro in 1970 with his business partner Dave Scott, and later founded The Pen Factory in 2014. He stepped away from the latter last year, marking 54 years as a Hope Street restaurateur. Former Pen Factory colleagues posted a tribute to Byrne on social media: "His attention to detail was unmatched in our Industry & he had a genuine warmth for everyone he met. A true pioneer of hospitality, a wonderful raconteur and a dear loved friend by so many.”

Knowsley and Sefton council are among several local authorities that have had threats made towards workers removing flags from lampposts and other public structures. The flags were erected across the country during a “flagging” movement over the summer, however in some incidents they have been deemed offensive and linked to the rise of the far-right. When the BBC spoke to people in Walton earlier this month, they found that most residents felt the flags “represent our country”, but abuse towards council workers was not acceptable. "They haven't got permission to put them up in the first place, so it's wrong," one taxi driver in Orrell Park told the BBC, highlighting it is illegal to put up flags or bunting without prior permission. He added that he couldn’t understand why anyone would abuse someone who was just "doing their job". Last month, we published an acclaimed long read on the rise of flagging across the country — read that here. 

And great news for St Helens’ own Luke Littler, who has become world number one in darts after beating Luke Humphries over the weekend. At just 18 years old, Littler is now the youngest person to ever become world number one in the Professional Darts Corporation rankings, surpassing Michael van Gerwen — who achieved the feat aged 24 in 2014. "Now I'm number one, I'm hungry to stay there,” he said after the win. “I want to be there for the next few years. There's going to be a target on my back from Luke [Humphries] and all the other players. It's made me more hungry."

Photo of the week

This week, we’re taking the chance to spotlight this wonderful photo of the Eldonians taken by our very own Kris D’Aout. If you missed our weekend read on the Eldonian Village saga, or our piece on the future of The Strand in Bootle, you’re missing out on enjoying not just our stories, but also Kris’s brilliant photography. 

We’re always keen to feature photos from our readers — if you have a snap you’d like to share please email it to editor@livpost.co.uk for a chance to be featured in our Monday editions.

Post Picks

🎸On Wednesday, Ambro Collective heads to The Tung Auditorium for a lunchtime performance. Ambro Collective is a Liverpool-based jazz fusion band celebrated for their blend of jazz, funk, and experimental sounds — find out more here.

🎨Also on Wednesday, street artist Paul Curtis will be telling the stories behind his murals at Scruffy Murphy’s. This isn’t a stuffy lecture — expect a laid-back, informal atmosphere, where you can grab a drink and ask questions throughout the evening. Details here.

🎭On Thursday, why not head to Unity Theatre to catch a new play: The Chaos That Has Been & Will No Doubt Return. An evening of noughties bangers and shots of dodgy gin mixed with the chaos of violence — tickets here.

Recommended read 📖

In classic “just one more week until retirement” mode, Laurence found himself in North Wales at the end of last week, braving Storm Claudia to help track down one Andrew Milne,  a solicitor who has been casting a shadow over the lives of Sheffield residents. The story, told from the perspective of our Sheffield Tribune colleague Daniel Timms, reads like a classic detective novel.

After Becky’s mum died, it was time to sell her childhood home. Then Andrew Milne got in touch

Plus: As the search for answers continues, The Tribune takes to the road

Sheffield TribuneDaniel Timms

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