Cycling under the influence

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/26/010099/U

Version Date: 08/07/2026

The Performance & Analysis Department has provided the following information:

Data Source:

Crime information system – Niche

Data Processing:

Cancelled crimes included, Non-notifiable crimes included                                   

Qliksense Report: Crime and Outcomes                                         

Filtered by date: January 1st 2023 to December 31st 2025                                  

Offence Descriptions:                                                

Riding pedal cycle under the influence of drink or drugs                                       

Drunk in charge of a pedal cycle / carriage / animal                                             

Data Limitations/Caveats:

The offence of Riding pedal cycle under the influence of drink or drugs is a not notifiable to the Home Office by Police Forces. Therefore, Police are not required to record a crime in respect of these. As a result, figures for this offence after 14 November 2022 are highly likely to decrease or completely stop.

Offences of "Drunk in charge of a pedal cycle / carriage / animal" were read for relevance.

Please provide the following information for each of the calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025:
1.         How many offences under Section 30 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (riding a cycle whilst unfit through drink or drugs) were recorded by your force?
2.         If held separately, how many of those offences resulted in a charge or prosecution?
3.         If held separately, how many of the total offences recorded involved an electrically assisted pedal cycle (e-bike)?
If your force records these offences under different descriptions or offence categories, I would be grateful if you could provide the closest available recorded information.
Where any of the requested information is held but not recorded in exactly the format requested, I would be grateful if you could provide the closest available recorded information.

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025, there was one offence of

drunk in charge of a pedal cycle / carriage / animal (relating specifically to a pedal cycle) was recorded. This offence occurred in January 2024 and was assigned the outcome “No Further Action”. The bike involved was a standard pedal bike.