Rental e-bike users in Islington will no longer be able to leave their bikes wherever they want and must use designated bays.
The council has announced a network of 250 “cycle hire only” bays, which will be implemented every 200 metres in the borough.
South Islington rolled out 10 out of an initial 78 bays on 4 March and the council aims to have a further 50 before the summer.
Implementing bays is one of two solutions the council is adopting to tackle the significant increase in dockless bikes while still promoting a healthy borough.
Local businesses are looking forward to the council getting a handle on dockless Forest and Lime bikes as the lack of regulation means bikes are becoming an inconvenience.
Dockless bikes being left on the pavement “pisses off the neighbours”, according to Ross Dickinson manager at The Canonbury Tavern.
Alongside punters leaving bikes, Lime delivers bikes to hotspots across the borough such as Clerkenwell Green near Farringdon station, which is in the design sector and hosts many cycling commuters.
Lime leaves the bikes with little care, said Chris Hristov, manager at The Crown Tavern on Clerkenwell Green.
Mr Hristov said staff often had to move the bikes as often they blocked the pub’s fire exit.
The Crown Tavern has the licence for customers to drink outside the pub, but it is still public property, and the large number of Lime bikes left there are “very annoying”, said Mr Hristov.
The council’s decision to repurpose existing vehicle parking bays into bike bays comes as the hourly parking rate in the borough is England’s highest, according to research by The Times.
Solution one comes after the number of rides in Islington hit a high of 5.2 million in 2024-2025, up from 3.2 million in 2023-2024.
Solution two will see a new memorandum of understanding established between the council and bike operators. This will focus on timely bike removal and managing crowds at major events such as Arsenal match days.
Jack McKenna, Senior Public Affairs Manager at Lime, said: “We welcome the introduction of the new bays and are looking forward to working with Islington Council to ensure user experience and vehicle availability remains the same.
“We’re grateful for the feedback we have received so far, and we hope that the new parking bays will enable local residents to continue to use and enjoy Lime bikes on a daily basis”.
According to a spokesperson from Islington Council, each bay costs around £1,500 and “the bay locations have been chosen using demand analysis, as well as targeting areas where there have been issues in the past.”
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Araminta Plumptre is a student journalist at City University with a specific focus on her reporting beat, Finsbury Park. Araminta has by-lines at ELLE magazine and experience at The Daily Telegraph she is interested in arts and culture writing alongside international journalism.