At least 477 children in England have been injured due to electronic scooters in the past six years – and dozens have required surgery, a study has found.British researchers have found that the number of kids seeking hospital treatment with e-scooter injuries has increased more than 20-fold since 2019.They warned that children as young as 10 are increasingly using privately purchased vehicles, which can be modified to reach rapid speeds of 70mph.And fewer than 2 per cent of e-scooter users wear helmets, the data, collected by UK children's hospitals, show.The findings come as separate analysis by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety revealed that 59 Britons have been killed by the two-wheeled vehicles since 2019.Fourteen-year-old Jacob Calland died last year after a friend used an e-scooter on 'turbo mode'.Since July 2020, e-scooters have been available to rent by over-16s under a government-backed trial in cities like London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.They are allowed to be used in cycle lanes and on roads in these areas, excluding on motorways and pavements, and can reach maximum speeds of around 15.5mph. At least 477 children in England have been injured while riding e-scooters since 2019 and dozens have required surgery, a major study has found. Pictured: stock image An e-scooter awareness campaign was launched by Carly Calland (right), the mother of Jacob Calland (left), whose death was caused by a friend using an e-scooter on 'turbo mode'But it is illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter on public pavements or roads. Despite this, the devices have been available to buy from UK retailers since 2018, costing upwards of £1,000 in some instances. While it is legal to sell them, vendors must give customers accurate information about the legal restrictions on their use.The new research analysed injuries reported between January 2019 and December 2024 at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Sheffield Children's Hospital.This suggests the true nationwide injury toll may be significantly higher than the near-500 injuries found in just a handful of hospitals.The team, who were based out of each hospital, described e-scooter injuries as a 'rising public health challenge'. In 2019, just five e-scooter injuries were recorded across the two hospitals for which researchers had data - one at Sheffield Children's Hospital and four at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. Figures for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital were only available from 2023 onwards because of a change to its electronic records system. By 2024, the number of e-scooter injuries recorded at the three hospitals had surged to 149.Over the six-year study period, the 477 children who presented with injuries at the hospitals' trauma centres had an average age of 12.Most of the injuries – 213 – were reported in Liverpool, followed by 198 in Sheffield and 66 in Manchester.Every one of the injuries in Sheffield was believed to have involved a private scooter because the city does not have a rental trial scheme.Just three injuries were linked to rental scheme scooters in Liverpool and Manchester, meaning the vast majority were bought.Two-thirds of the children injured were boys and 95 per cent of the injuries affected the driver.The most common injuries affected the limbs, head and face, with 33 children requiring surgery and 64 being admitted to hospital.