E-scooters in Cheltenham: Voi hire, where you can ride and park, and the local rules
E-scooters in Cheltenham come from one company, Voi, in a government trial that runs until May 2028. You must be 18 or over with a full or provisional driving licence, and the Voi app shows the price before you unlock. Ride on roads and cycle lanes, never on pavements; the scooter slows to 5 mph on the High Street, and you end your ride in a Voi parking bay. A private e-scooter is illegal everywhere in public.
E-scooters in Cheltenham: Voi and the county council’s trial
One company, Voi, hires out e-scooters in Cheltenham. Gloucestershire County Council’s e-scooter pages say “Voi has been appointed as the operator responsible for running the trial” and name no other operator; the Jockey Club’s racecourse travel page calls Voi “the e-scooter hire service” in the town.
Who runs it? The county council, as the local transport authority, “facilitated the trial” and picked the operator; Voi runs the scooters, and the operators take “all the financial risk”, the council says. Gloucestershire joined the national trial in 2020. After a tender, the council gave Voi a contract “starting on 1 August 2023”, its announcement of June 2023 says.
How long will it run? The national trials run until May 2028. The county council “has agreed to continue Voi Ltd’s contract until July 2027”, BBC News reported on 11 June 2026; the day before, Greatest Hits Radio said the council was seeking to extend it “from 1st July 2026 to 30th June 2027”. The council also plans a joint e-scooter and e-bike contract from July 2027, the station reported, but that is not yet decided. For now the council’s pages mention e-scooters only.
At 14:55 on Saturday 24 October 2026 the map of Cheltenham showed about 670 Voi e-scooters: a snapshot, not the fleet size. It shows their positions and battery, not prices, zones, parking bays or hours. The map’s Cheltenham area reaches beyond the borough to villages such as Bishop’s Cleeve and Winchcombe, while Churchdown’s scooters count towards Gloucester. At 07:22 on Sunday 25 October every scooter in that area stood inside the borough, about one in five in Charlton Kings, Leckhampton, Up Hatherley, Prestbury and Swindon Village.
How much does a Voi e-scooter cost in Cheltenham?
No council page we checked gives Voi’s Cheltenham prices or hours, so check the app: it shows the unlock fee and the price per minute before you start, and any passes on offer.
To hire one, the county council says: download the Voi app, register your driving licence, add a credit or debit card, read or watch the safety briefing, then unlock a scooter in the app. The council’s 2023 announcement adds a selfie and Voi’s online safety lesson before your first ride. New to hire scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.
Are e-scooters legal in Cheltenham? Age, licence and fines
Hire scooters are legal because Gloucestershire (“Cheltenham, Gloucester and surrounding areas”) is one of England’s 21 trial areas, on the government’s list updated on 7 July 2026. The legal minimum age is 16, but the county council says “all riders must be aged 18 or over” with Voi. A full or provisional UK licence works (category Q, included in every UK car, moped and motorcycle licence). Visitors can use a full EU or EEA licence, or another country’s full car, moped or motorcycle licence if they entered the UK in the last 12 months, but never a foreign provisional one. The national rules are in our guide to e-scooter law in the UK.
| Rule | What it means | Set by | If you break it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age and licence | 18 or over, with a full or provisional driving licence | The law (licence); the county council and Voi (18 or over) | £100 and points without the right licence |
| Pavements | Never ride on them | The law | £50 fixed penalty |
| Where to ride | Roads (never motorways), cycle lanes and routes with the blue bicycle sign | The law | – |
| Speed | 15.5 mph at most by law; the county gives 12.5 mph for Voi, and 5 mph in low-speed areas such as the High Street | The law; the county council and Voi | – |
| Parking | End the ride in a designated Voi parking bay | The county council; Voi | “Small fines”, the county says; Voi can fine or ban you |
| Phone | Not in your hand while riding | The law | £200 and 6 points |
| Drink and drugs | Drink-drive law applies | The law | Court, a fine, a driving ban, possibly prison |
| Helmet | Recommended, not compulsory | The law | – |
A private e-scooter is illegal on Cheltenham’s roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in its parks. Riding one is riding an uninsured motor vehicle: a £300 fixed penalty and 6 penalty points, and the police can seize it. Since 29 June 2026 they can seize one ridden anti-socially without a warning first.
Where can you ride a Voi in Cheltenham?
Across England, hire scooters may use roads (never motorways), cycle lanes and routes with the blue bicycle sign, but never the pavement. The county council’s FAQ puts it more loosely: during the trial they “can be used wherever bicycles are allowed”. The scooters are geofenced: “if they leave this area, the motor will stop working”, the FAQ says, and it names the areas as “central Cheltenham and central Gloucester” (last reviewed in April 2025).
Inside the area, Voi’s app sets the zones:
- Slow zones: the county council’s 2023 announcement gives a top speed of 12.5 mph and “a mandatory 5mph limit in several ‘low speed’ areas, such as Cheltenham High Street”. The scooter keeps working there, but slower.
- No-go zones: “there are some areas where you cannot ride, such as motorways and shopping centres. Your scooter will switch off if you enter a ‘no go’ area”, the council says. We found no published list of them: the app’s map has them.
- The edges: BBC News reported on 11 June 2026 that the trial covers Gloucester and Cheltenham “along with Churchdown and Bishops Cleeve”. At 07:22 on Sunday 25 October our map showed Voi scooters from Up Hatherley to Charlton Kings and Prestbury, but none in Bishop’s Cleeve.
Commuting to Gloucester? The council describes two separate areas, so check the app’s map before planning a ride between them. Gloucester’s scooters, about 200 at 14:55 on 24 October, are on the map of Gloucester. Nor can you take one to another trial area: the council says they “cannot be taken and used by a rider in a different place, even if that place has its own e-scooter trial running”.
Where to park a Voi e-scooter in Cheltenham
Cheltenham uses parking bays, not free parking anywhere. “Designated parking bays have been established in city and town centres”, and “all parking bays have been approved by the highways authority and local councils”, the county council says. “Riders may face small fines if they leave the e-scooter anywhere other than a designated Voi parking bay.”
In June 2023 the county council said the service had 310 scooters at 170 bays across Gloucester and Cheltenham. On 8 April 2026, after residents complained about scooters abandoned in pedestrianised areas, BBC News reported that Voi was creating 100 painted parking bays across the two towns, the busiest areas first, and that Voi’s enforcement procedure for bad parking “can lead to fines or bans”. The app’s map shows each bay: check it before you set off.
The racecourse, the festivals, parks and campuses
Each landowner sets its own rules. Here is what each one says:
| Place | Owner | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Racecourse | The Jockey Club | Voi’s nearest parking spot to the racecourse is near New Barn Lane, inside Gate 1 (festival travel page, read 25 October 2026) |
| Pittville Park, Montpellier Gardens, Imperial Gardens, Sandford Park | Cheltenham Borough Council | No rule we could read: its parks directory says nothing about e-scooters (25 October 2026), so follow the signs |
| University of Gloucestershire campuses | The university | We couldn’t check: its website refused our requests |
| Cheltenham General Hospital | Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | No rule we could read: its travel and parking pages don’t mention e-scooters (25 October 2026) |
For Cheltenham Festival week in March, Visit Cheltenham, the town’s tourism site, said in February 2025 that Voi has bays “at all the most important locations”, so you can travel between Cheltenham Spa station, the town centre and the racecourse; register in the app before you arrive. The Jockey Club’s festival travel page also lists Stagecoach raceday shuttles between the racecourse, the town centre and the station. We found no special e-scooter rule from the council, the Jockey Club or Visit Cheltenham for race days or the Literature, Jazz, Science or Music festivals.
Cheltenham Spa station, trains and buses
The Jockey Club says Voi has “parking zones at key transport hubs like bus and rail stations”, and at 07:22 on Sunday 25 October our map showed about 30 Voi scooters within 500 metres of Cheltenham Spa station. End your ride in a bay near the station and walk in.
For e-scooters on trains and buses, we couldn’t check the rules of GWR, CrossCountry or Stagecoach West, because their websites refused our requests, and National Rail’s page for Cheltenham Spa station says nothing about e-scooters.
Did you know?
- As busy as a bus route. Voi counted 34,000 e-scooter journeys a month in Gloucestershire in March 2026, and the county’s cabinet member for sustainable transport and road safety likened that to a major bus route, BBC News reported on 11 June 2026.
- About one in seven. Voi says 14.5% of the people of Gloucester and Cheltenham are active e-scooter users, BBC News reported the same day; Greatest Hits Radio put the scheme’s active users at 37,600 on 10 June 2026.
Questions
- Is there Lime or Bird in Cheltenham?
- No. Voi is the only e-scooter hire operator: the county council appointed it to run the trial and names no other. Only Voi’s trial scooters can be ridden legally on Cheltenham’s roads; the Cheltenham map shows where they are.
- How much does a Voi e-scooter cost in Cheltenham?
- The county council doesn’t publish Voi’s prices, so check the app: it shows the unlock fee and the price per minute before you unlock, and any passes. You pay by credit or debit card in the app.
- Can I ride an e-scooter on Cheltenham High Street?
- Yes, on a Voi, but slowly: the county council lists the High Street among the low-speed areas with a mandatory 5 mph limit, and the scooter slows down by itself. Never ride on the pavement, and keep out of the no-go zones, such as shopping centres, where the scooter switches off.
- Can I take a Voi e-scooter to Cheltenham Racecourse?
- Yes. The Jockey Club says the nearest Voi parking spot is near New Barn Lane, inside Gate 1, and Visit Cheltenham says Voi’s bays let you travel between the station, the town centre and the racecourse. On Festival days, register in the app before you arrive.
- Where can I leave a Voi e-scooter in Cheltenham?
- Only in a designated Voi parking bay, shown in the app. The county council says riders may face small fines if they leave a scooter anywhere else, and Voi can fine or ban riders who park badly.
- Can I ride my own e-scooter in Cheltenham?
- No. A private e-scooter is illegal on public roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in parks. Riding one means a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points, and the police can seize it.