Warning of ‘alarming spate’ of house fires caused by e-bike and e-scooter batteries

Shoppers are warned to avoid buying e-scooters and e-bikes unless they are being sold from established retailers

The fire damage inside the 12th floor flat in Shepherds Bush (LBF) (PA Media)

An “alarming spate” of house fires has been caused by e-bikes and e-scooters’ lithium-ion batteries, new figures show.

The number of fires caused by the batteries has jumped by 150 per cent in the past year - a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

While 88 firefighter callouts were related to e-bikes fires last year – an increase of 80 per cent on the 49 responded to in 2021.