eBikesDerby, one of the UK's first e-bike share schemes, has now been forced to scrap operations for good due to huge levels of vandalism that left two thirds of their fleet beyond repair.   

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Initially the start-up suspended their operations in an attempt to find a resolution, but a statement on their website now confirms that the scheme is gone for good. The eBikesDerby social media accounts are also now closed. 

They claimed to run one of the biggest e-bike share schemes in the UK, with 200 e-bikes available in 30 points across the city of Derby. eBikesDerby secured £450,000 of funding to get it off the ground, according to the BBC, and it was owned by bikeshare firm Hourbike who also run a non-electric bikeshare scheme in Liverpool.   

The full statement on the eBikesDerby website now says: 

"It is with sadness and great regret that the eBike Derby electric bikeshare has to close. Until spring this year, the scheme had been incredibly popular with the students, commuters and residents of Derby, who together traveled over 150,000 miles in less than a year.

However due to the recent spate of intensive and aggressive vandalism targeting our bikes, which left 133 out of 200 inactive and in need of significant and costly repair, Hourbike cannot afford to sustain the scheme going forward.

The scheme is run independently by Hourbike, and as a result of the targeted vandalism, we can no longer make the scheme a viable operation financially.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone so much for their support over the last year. The people and businesses of Derby embraced the scheme and were so helpful in making it such a success. The whole eBikes Derby team area massively disappointed the scheme cannot continue but our partner are exploring options for the ebikes going forward."