E-scooter company Beryl has responded to claims made in a letter to the County Press about the behaviour of scooter riders.

In the letter, Mrs J. Jordan, of Ryde, made several claims including that youngsters were asking adults to 'unlock' scooters for them and that they were being ridden through a cemetery.

She also said the scooters had encouraged young people to meet in groups and flout government Covid rules.

They had also not been put back in designated bays, causing hazards to people with disabilities.

The letter was written in response to Cllr Ian Ward's claim, reported in the County Press, to the Isle of Wight Council that complaints about the scooters had died down.

Read the letter in full here.

Read Cllr Ian Ward's remarks here.

Beryl told the County Press it had received no complaints around reported incidents at Ryde Cemetery.

It said: "All of our e-scooters are tracked and GPS data from Beryl e-scooters show activity on the path that connects West Street with Pellhurst Road.

"We understand this path is used frequently as a cut-through and public GPS data shows it is used by cyclists and runners.

"We would like to remind those who own private e-scooters that they are illegal to use on public roads and pavements."

Beryl said its e-scooter trial on the Isle of Wight has been enormously successful with over 40,000 miles covered since its launch in November and 95 per cent of journeys ending in Beryl Bays.

The statement said: "We are in frequent communication with the IW Council and Hampshire Constabulary around the adaptation of our scheme so it best serves the community’s needs.

"In accordance with the DfT’s trial requirements, we ask each user to provide a valid UK drivers licence which is captured and verified before use.

"We do not condone adults hiring e-scooters for underage users, and encourage members of the public to report any misuse to our support team that is operational seven days a week from 7am-9pm."

"Our local operations teams are equipped with antibacterial spray to regularly disinfect the e-scooters when they are being re-positioned out on street or in our workshop for servicing.

"We have distributed safety leaflets to residents across the scheme area and as lockdown measures ease we will be holding training programmes."