Electric scooter shows its rivals a clean pair of heels

COMMUTERS hit by soaring fuel prices are being offered an electric scooter that costs just a quarter of a penny a mile to run.

The makers of the Ego Street Scoota claim its £1,000 price tag is one third as much as the average for an electric bike.

The scooter has a range of 40 miles, with its 1,400-watt motor capable of a top speed of 30mph.

It costs 8p to recharge, using a normal electric socket, which takes eight hours.

Drivers with licences issued before 2001 can ride the vehicle, but others would have to take a compulsory basic training course.

An MoT is required after three years, then annually.

The vehicle is built in China where some 13 million electric scooters are sold a year.

Steve Bellis, the commercial director of Lynx Group International, which has imported the model to the UK, said he hit on the idea during one of his regular visits to China.

He said: "We saw some extremely attractive looking scooters in a showroom and asked the manufacturers where the petrol tank was.

"We were blown away when we were told it was electric – we knew instantly that if we could bring it over to the UK and hit the right price, that this could change city commuting in a big way."