A trial of e-scooters is now underway - the first of its kind in Essex.

The scooters, capped at 15mph, can be collected from nine pick up and charging points in the centre of Basildon.

Spin, the micromobility unit of Ford, has launch its first public hire e-scooter trial in Basildon, the first of its kind in Essex.

Spin is launching the service with 50 e-scooters available for hire in the town from today. This is the first step in a managed phased launch which Spin is looking to gradually expand hand in hand with demand and working closely with Basildon Council.

Steve Pyer, UK Country Manager at Spin said, “We are excited to launch the first of our Essex e-scooter trials in Basildon. Our aim is to develop an affordable and reliable service that gives the local community of more than 100,000 residents a more sustainable, fun and socially-distanced way to travel around the town. To achieve this, we are taking a community-centred, consultative approach with local authorities, with public safety as a top priority. Unlike private e-scooters that are still illegal in the UK, we have much more control of the e-scooters speed and the areas where people can ride. As this is part of the national trials we’ll be closely monitoring it and sharing findings and feedback with the Department for Transport and local authorities and fine-tune operations as and when needed.”