London's first dockless hire bike scheme launches

Obike have become the first dockless hire bike company to launch in the capital, following similar schemes in Manchester and Cambridge

London's first dockless hire bikes were launched on Wednesday morning in the first phase of what is expected to be a rapid rollout of the machines by Singapore-based company Obike to cities all across the UK.

Obike - not to be confused with Mobike, which launched in Manchester exactly a month ago - delivered 400 of its bikes to the London borough of Tower Hamlets today, and intends to roll out thousands more across the city before the end of the month, at a rate of hundreds per day.