WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES An e-scooter driver left a five-year-old boy with a nasty injury to his face after illegally riding the transport gadget in a pedestrianised zone in Grimsby, Lincolnshire

A young lad needed stitches for a nasty face injury after being mowed down by an illegal e-scooter.

Hugo Tasker, five, was knocked down by a man riding an e-scooter in a pedestrianised zone in Grimsby which left him in need of hospital treatment

Since the transport gadget hit the market a few years ago, three riders have died in fatal collisions. There are currently no reports of pedestrians killed in an e-scooter incident, according to Hull Live.

But Humberside Police and Safer Roads Humber used Hugo’s case to show people how dangerous the contraptions can be and that riding them in public spaces could also see you run into trouble with the law.

Westminster has been toying with the idea of legalising the motorised devices, with trials taking place in cities across the UK, but at present private scooters are only permitted on private land with the land owner’s permission.

A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “On Monday, December 27, on Victoria Street in Grimsby, a five year-old boy was struck by an e-scooter which was reportedly being ridden by a man in a pedestrian area.

“Thankfully he is now recovering at home but he sustained injuries to his face and legs and needed hospital treatment.

“This young boy was badly shaken and injured and we want to prevent anyone else suffering from similar injuries or worse.

“Parents, if you have bought an e-scooter for your child at Christmas please make sure they remain within the law.

“Be aware that privately-owned scooters are restricted for use solely on private land with the permission of the land owner.

“It is illegal to use a privately owned e-scooter on pavements, cycle paths or roads.”

Across the Humberside area there have been five casualties in road traffic incidents involving an e-scooter in the latest data up to June 2021 with that number expected to rise with the popularity of the vehicles.

The government also believes that non-fatal casualties for e-scooter users are “amongst the most likely to be under-reported in road casualty data since they have no obligation to inform the police of collisions”.

Overall, there were 931 casualties in accidents involving e-scooters in the year up to June, of these 732 were e-scooters users, the government estimate that there were 253 seriously injured and 675 slightly injured casualties.

Males make up 81 per cent of all e-scooter rider casualties with the the highest percentage of casualties being between the ages of 10 and 29.

Over 50 per cent of all reported incidents took place in London with Humberside accounting for just 0.5 percent of cases nationwide.

Safer Roads Humber continue to remind people of the law surrounding the use of e-scooters, they said: “Whilst you can legally buy an e-scooter, it is against the law to ride your own scooter on the road, cycle lane or pavement.

“If stopped by the police, they could seize the e-scooter & you could get a fine and points on your driving licence.”

There has been at least one case of an expensive scooter being seized and scrapped in East Yorkshire after the rider was caught in public this year.

The man was riding his scooter near the Tesco in Beverley in October when he was stopped by officers and asked to provide evidence of insurance for his vehicle.

He had only had the scooter for a couple of weeks and said he was unaware of the legislation about riding them.