Non-electric 'nextbikes' pedalled to Penarth from Cardiff were tossed over the Esplanade railings and into the Bristol Channel last night.

A resident on her morning walk discovered "at least five" of the vehicles being battered by the high tide waves at sunrise.

"I love being on my bike so to see such a needless, selfish act of vandalism is really upsetting," she said.

The provider, nextbikes, were made aware of the incident and came to retrieve the bikes at roughly 12:15pm.

By this time, the bikes had disappeared. The nextbike employee told Nub News he was unsure about their whereabouts.

"These bikes are the freestanding ones [rather than the Penarth e-bikes], so anybody could have come past and thrown them," he said.

When asked whether he thought the bikes may have sustained long-term damage, the employee said it was likely because the vehicles have a "fragile" mechanism.

The volunteer who accompanied him speculated that "drunk people" were probably responsible.

In November 2020, Penarth became the first location in Wales to receive nextbike's electric bicycles.

Available at five "electric stations" across Penarth (Esplanade, Cardiff Bay, Penarth Train Station, Windsor Arcade, and University Hospital Llandough), the motor-assisted bikes are capable of reaching 15 miles an hour.