Illegal electric vehicles seized at Port of Felixstowe

More than a million pounds worth of illegal electric vehicles have been seized at a port.

A total of 340 electric motorbikes, scooters and bikes were tested at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk.

Suffolk Trading Standards said: “All were assessed as dangerous and posing a serious risk to safety.”

A spokesperson said many of the vehicles were supplied with non-UK plugs and chargers, with unsafe UK travel adapters posing a fire risk.

The total retail value of the items was estimated at £1,384,630.

The operation was carried out by the trading standards team, alongside police forces and the Department for Transport to “prevent serious harm caused by fire, explosion, electric shock, as well as anti-social behaviour and criminality linked to these vehicles”.

Suspect containers were held at the port for three days of testing.

Some of the items were said to be able to travel at speeds above 50mph (80km/h).

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Caveney, of Hertfordshire Police, said many of the items were due to be sold in the UK.

He said 50 illegally imported electric off-road motorcycles were destined for sale in his county.

Claire Davies, from Suffolk Trading Standards, advised people to only buy electric vehicles from “reputable dealers” and if prices “look too good to be true, they probably are”.

She said anyone unsure of their item should stop using it.