Electric scooters will disappear from Kent's streets from today as a controversial trial comes to an end.

The pilot scheme launched in Canterbury in November 2020 for an initial 12-month period but, despite public safety fears and a pensioner being knocked down, has twice been extended.

In July, 80-year-old Sarah Carter suffered a broken wrist, jaw and cheekbone after she was struck by a Bird e-scooter being ridden on a pavement in Station Road West.

The retired university librarian described the vehicles as “lethal”, adding: “Another elderly person could have quite easily been even more seriously injured or even killed.”

Kent County Council rejected an offer from the Department for Transport to continue the trial until May 2024.

The last day of the scheme was yesterday, in line with its scheduled end-date.

The trial has been scaled back over the past few months ahead of its conclusion, with the number of scooters and designated routes reduced.

Its withdrawal means there are now no legally ridden e-scooters on Kent’s streets, as they are only permitted on public highways as part of government-approved trials.

Operator Bird launched the trial initially for students to travel between Canterbury’s universities and the city centre, where air pollution exceeds three World Health Organisation limits, according to Imperial University’s Air Quality Report.

The trial zone was later increased and opened to all eligible riders in March last year, when it was extended for a second time, when a KentOnline reporter tested out the vehicles.

Opinion on the scheme has been split, with supporters saying it cuts pollution, and others arguing the scooters are dangerous to pedestrians.

The city council’s Labour leader Dave Wilson welcomed the end of the trial.

"It’s a good day for the city and people will be able to relax and not worry about someone on a scooter bumping into them at 15mph..."

“The scooters - without adequate infrastructure - are a mess and it’s quite clear they have been involved in incidents and near-misses,” he said.

“It’s a good day for the city and people will be able to relax and not worry about someone on a scooter bumping into them at 15mph.”

Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott (Con) hit out at the scheme last year due to deaths linked to the devices elsewhere.

“On safety grounds alone, the e scooter experiment needs to stop,” he previously said.

A spokeswoman for Bird says - along with the council - they would like to remind residents that private e-scooters remain illegal on the streets of Canterbury.

“Whilst we are clearly disappointed with this decision the end the trial in Canterbury, we are proud of having been able to provide a world leading eco-friendly and accessible transport mode to the cities’ residents," they said.

"In the past two years, the trial has been a success with one in four eligible adults in Canterbury having tried our e-scooters and 200,000km having been travelled."