They are a tempting alternative to cars, cheap to run, easy to park and the latest craze in urban travel. And now Minehead will have the chance to experience the thrills – and hopefully not the spills – as it becomes the latest town to trial electric-powered e-scooters next month.

It will be part of Government trials in town and cities to assess the safety of e-scooters and whether they can effectively reduce traffic

Somerset West and Taunton Council’s move to include Minehead in the Department for Transport approved trial follows a successful launch in Taunton in October last year where nearly 8,000 users have already travelled over 66,000 miles, removing the equivalent of 9.1 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere.

Minehead Mayor Cllr Paul Bolton this week welcomed the Minehead trial as a “brilliant idea” and added: “Anything that takes traffic off the roads of the town must be a good thing. The town council wants Minehead to eventually become carbon-neutral and this will be a step in the right direction.”

Cllr Bolton said it was expected that the trial would start with 10-20 scooters and numbers would increase if the scheme proved popular. Only rented scooters would be allowed on the road and riders had to hold a driving licence.

The trial in Minehead is expected to go live in June and will run until the end of March 2022. It will be operated by the council’s appointed partner, Zipp Mobility, who will also be employing staff locally.