Scourge of the e-bikes at Wimbledon: Council threatens to seize abandoned bicycles after hundreds of fans use them to join the Queue

By LETTICE BROMOVSKY, NEWS REPORTER and JAKE HOLDEN, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:38, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 10:59, 30 June 2026 If there's one British tradition that can rival Wimbledon itself, it's the queue. And this morning, it was busier than ever. An astonishing 10,000 hopeful tennis fans had already joined the famous Queue by 8.30am on the opening day of The Championships, prompting organisers to issue an unusual plea: if you haven't already left home, don't bother - the queue is effectively full. While some may blame the glorious opening-day buzz, Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton says there's another, rather modern, culprit helping swell the crowds. Speaking as thousands of eager fans snaked through Wimbledon Park in the hope of securing one of the coveted daily tickets, Ms Bolton explained that today's queue has become even more popular than in the years immediately after Covid. 'It used to be people catching the first Tube into Southfields,' she said. 'Now, with Lime and other hire bikes, people can reach the queue much more easily from further afield.' Merton Council has threatened to seize abandoned Lime bikes after hundreds of fans have left them scattered on the streets of Wimbledon while trying to join the tennis tournament Queue. More than 9,000 people joined the Queue by 7.30am this morning and ditched hundreds of Lime and Forest rental bikes, which have 'completely overwhelmed' the area, councillors have said. More than 9,000 tennis lovers joined the Wimbledon Queue by 7.30am this morning after 10,000 descended on the tournament yesterday, bringing hundreds of rental e-bikes Wimbledon told fans to STOP queueing for tickets after 10,000 turned up on Day One Plans to alleviate the congestion - requiring riders to dismount at nearby Church Street and drop off their bikes elsewhere - have also proved insufficient for the hordes of two-wheeled tennis fans. The drop-off point has been stacked with hundreds of bikes this morning, but some have overflowed onto the pavement outside the All England Club, blocking pedestrians. It's prompted Merton Council to warn operators: 'If the situation does not improve quickly, the council will start seizing bikes where there is a serious safety risk.' They added: 'We're disappointed that a small number of riders are ignoring the rules, and we expect Lime and Forest to be issuing fines to riders to ensure Merton's streets are clear and safe. 'We've also made sure both Lime and Forest have increased their staffing during the tennis to deal with abandoned or poorly-parked bikes as quickly as possible. 'We've requested an urgent meeting with both operators tomorrow and, in the meantime, asked the operators to increase their resourcing. We've increased our presence there too.' E-bikes have been linked to a spate of serious crashes and brought about a nasty piece of medical jargon in the process - 'Lime bike leg' - a nickname for those who have broken their legs after being crushed by the heavy bike frames.  Wimbledon organisers at the All England Club believe that the availability of these electric rental bikes has caused the huge increase of people joining the Queue early on the first day of the Championships. Merton Council has warned it will start seizing wayward e-bikes left outside the designated parking bays and expects operators Lime and Forest to start issuing fines for those flouting the rules All England Club CEO Sally Bolton said that the emergence of e-bikes is responsible for the huge crowds at the Queue this year  Some customers appear to have had trouble with the GPS system in their bikes so were unable to electronically 'end' their ride in the parking bays. Wardens acted ineffectually, a councillor said Before, fans had to wait for the first Tube to get to the courts, but now more than 10,000 people made their way overnight between Sunday and Monday.  Ms Bolton had been worried that the queue might die post-Covid after the harsh restrictions, but it's now more popular than ever, with people arriving 'earlier and earlier' because of the change in travel norms. The massive uptick of e-bike rentals in the area has brought its problems for at least a dozen Forest customers directly, who were unable to electronically 'end' their rides in the designated parking bay, seemingly due to a GPS malfunction. Councillors have said that this faulty GPS could let riders end journeys outside the designated bays and mean the bikes are left deserted on the pavement instead. Most e-bike rental services have GPS trackers on their cycles to make sure the rider is at an assigned parking bay to end their trip, but if this is inaccurate, it can lead to bikes being left in improper spots and blocking walkways. Liberal Democrat Merton Councillor Anthony Fairclough warned that this has been the case at Wimbledon this year and said that wardens provided by the bike operators 'do not always respond quickly' with areas that have been overwhelmed. There are about 350 e-bike parking bays across Merton and the Council has worked with neighbouring Wandsworth to temporarily enlarge some to deal with the excess traffic during the tournament.  Wimbledon chiefs acknowledged the dynamics of the famous queue are always changing The Queue itself, in a typical British way, has become something of an institution, with tennis lovers being happy to bed down under canvas, clutching camping chairs, flasks and picnic bags in the hope of securing one of the coveted daily tickets. Around 500 tickets for each of the show courts are made available every morning for those prepared to wait. A Forest spokesperson said: "As expected, we’re seeing a significant spike in demand for our services in Merton, driven by the start of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. 'We’ve been working closely with Merton Council in recent months to prepare for the tournament, including introducing temporary parking bays and deploying our operational team to support journeys in the local area. 'We’re aware that certain parking bays are particularly busy, and in response to this, we have deployed extra support to these locations to help manage demand and minimise disruption.' The Daily Mail has contacted Lime for a comment. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. 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