By Andy Beaven

November 9, 2025

© Police Scotland

Police use drones to track e-bike criminals.

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Police in Scotland are using drones to tackle the growing menace of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters.

In recent years, a rising number of electric vehicles – including ones that have been modified to go at alarming speeds – have been linked to dangerous driving, crime and antisocial behaviour.

Police, however, have been wary of pursuing riders, fearing a high-speed chase could end up causing an accident and harming innocent bystanders.

But now specialist drones are being deployed to “detect and track” rogue electric scooters and bikes.

The technology allows officers to monitor riders from the air, without the targets realising they are being pursued.

Police can then tail suspects until they come to a halt before moving in to make an arrest.

© Supplied by Screengrabs from Gwe

Drone image of a gang of e-bikers followed by police in Newport, Wales, with officers moving in.

Police Scotland’s use of drones was revealed at a meeting last week of South Lanarkshire Council’s road safety committee.

Inspector Chris Hoggans told councillors the vehicles were linked to a range of offences, including dangerous and careless driving, driving while unfit through drink and drugs, having no insurance, licence, or registration as well as antisocial behaviour.

He said: “The majority of e-bikes used in criminality will fail to stop for police. At that point, it’s up to officers to assess the proportionality of pursuing that bike.

“Considerations might be time of day, location, how busy it is, whether the rider’s wearing a helmet or gloves, or is using a balaclava to conceal their identity.”

He added: “Ultimately, pursuing an e-bike is very high risk and we have to be confident it’s proportionate for the original offence – whether that’s antisocial riding or something more serious.”

As a result, he said, officers were now trialling drones as an additional “tactical intervention” in areas where problems were being reported.

And last night Inspector Hoggans confirmed: “Drones are used as an extra resource to policing teams, allowing officers to scan the area in a very short time for signs of people using e-bikes.”

© Supplied by Screengrabs from Gwe

A powerful e-bike that was seized by the Welsh police in Newport after they tracked it by drone.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Waddell, lead for operational support, said: “The safety of all road users is a ­priority for us.

“Drones are an effective, visible and low-cost asset that can support our existing ­helicopter. They improve our ability to search large areas using fewer resources, decrease the risk faced by officers in difficult environments and provide aerial imagery for evidence use at court.”

Although the technology is just starting to be deployed around Scotland, it has already been pioneered in Wales – with great success.

In March, a drone operation tracked a group of bikers in Newport. Eye-in-the-sky footage showed four riders, dressed in black hoodies and balaclavas, weaving through a housing estate, speeding over pavements and riding on the wrong side of the road.

Eventually, the drone followed them to a house where they were picked up by officers from Gwent Police, who seized the illegal machines.

Under UK law, electric bikes, technically called electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs), are perfectly legal and can be ridden without a licence or insurance by anyone aged 14 or over – as long as the motor only boosts the use of the pedals, and offers no electrical assistance above 15.5mph. EAPCs can be ridden on cycle paths and anywhere else pedal bikes are allowed.

However, many e-bikes can be tweaked to move without the need to pedal and without any restriction on speed, meaning some can travel at up to 50mph. These modified bikes are regarded under law as motor vehicles, meaning riders require a driving licence, registration and insurance. They can only be ridden on the road.

Meanwhile, e-scooters – although they have become commonplace in towns and cities around the country – can only legally be used on private land, with permission, as well as in a handful of council areas where official loan schemes are being trialled.

As they have become more common, there has been a rise in crashes, serious injuries and even deaths.

They have also become the preferred mode of transport for gangs of youths terrorising neighbourhoods and for inner-city drug couriers, as well as being used as fast and nimble getaway vehicles for muggers and thieves.

In 2023, 15-year-old Saul Cookson died while riding an e-bike when he collided with an ambulance after he had been briefly followed by police in Manchester. He was carrying £700 of cannabis.

As part of Police Scotland’s Air Support Unit, drones – technically known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) – are based at hubs in Inverness, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Specialist officers with Civil Aviation Authority training operate the drones for a variety of purposes, including searching large areas quickly to look for missing persons.

They are also used – day or night – to search for suspects, gather evidence and provide a scene overview for post-incident investigations.

The main drone used is the DJI M210, fitted with video cameras and thermal imaging equipment, which can travel at up to 50mph.