They can be seen buzzing and weaving in their thousands through the congested streets of Delhi, Bangalore and Beijing, slicing through some of the world’s most intolerable traffic jams. Now the distinctive electric scooters that have taken India and China’s snarled-up streets by storm are set to hit London after the world’s largest commercial producer said that it would start manufacturing in the UK next year.

Ian Woodcock, a British entrepreneur who founded Ultra Motor, argues that such scooters are the answer to chronic congestion and spiralling fuel prices.“They do everything we need them to do as vehicles in a city, but they have none of the drawbacks,” Mr Woodcock told The Times. “As well as the obvious fuel and congestion benefits, they cost only $600 to $1,000 to buy, which is far cheaper than any petrol motorbike.”

In India, Ultra Motor is a household name, with 160 stores and 30,000 electric scooters sold every year in built-up areas. Today, Mr Woodcock will formally announce Ultra’s British expansion at a conference hosted by the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), a government-sponsored-body. The UKIBC is highlighting the company’s move into Britain as an example of the UK and India working together on business projects that are also environmentally friendly.

“Britain has a great opportunity for clean technology solutions, from offshore developments for wind energy to inviting Ultra Motor to set up electric scooter distribution here,” Sharon Bamford, chief executive of the UKIBC, said.

Mr Woodcock will use today’s conference to tell Britons that soon they might have no choice but to utilise more viable transport solutions. “Urbanisation is a global phenomenon and it’s irreversible worldwide,” he said. “We in Britain will very soon have no choice but to live with it and come to terms with it.”

In his opinion, an electric scooter that requires about two hours of charging every 60 miles is one solution. By 2009, he hopes that thousands of them will be on Britain’s roads.

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