Rental e-scooter trials will not require riders to be trained or wear a helmet, but they will be banned from riding on pavements.

The proposals are part of a consultation launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) to allow pilot schemes to launch.

The start of the trials has been brought forward from next year to next month and opened out to more areas of the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is hoped e-scooters will offer an attractive alternative to public transport amid the need for social distancing.

They are currently banned in the UK on public roads and pavements, but the Government is amending road traffic regulations to enable them to be trialled.

The consultation document states that “we think it is appropriate not to require formal training or testing”.

It goes on to say that the “we recommend wearing a cycle helmet for e-scooter journeys” but it is not planned to make this a mandatory requirement.

Speeds would be limited to a maximum of 12.5mph.

The DfT said: “E-scooters could be a fast and clean way to travel that eases the burden on the transport network and allows for social distancing.

“Before we can decide whether to fully legalise them and determine the rules that should apply, we need to understand their impacts.

“That means gathering evidence on their safety, how people use them, whether the potential benefits can be realised, and how to manage the downsides.

“Therefore, we will run controlled trials, with local areas, starting trials much sooner and in many more places.

“We are consulting on proposed regulations that would allow trials to begin and set the rules e-scooter users must follow.”

Many people already use e-scooters in the UK despite them not being banned.

The Metropolitan Police caught nearly 100 riders in London in a single week last summer.

YouTube star and TV presenter Emily Hartridge became the first person in the UK to be killed while riding an e-scooter when she was struck by a lorry in Battersea, south London, in July last year.