People living in council houses are being told they shouldn’t be charging their mobility scooters at night.

Fareham Borough Council is putting together a guide on owning, using, storing and charging mobility aids for residents in its council housing.

It said it wants users to ensure mobility scooters are charged during the day to avoid night time fire, register with the DVLA if needed and get the correct level of insurance.

At a meeting on April 2, Fareham Borough Council’s leisure and community scrutiny panel approved the latest steps in ensuring users of battery-powered mobility scooters and electric wheelchairs are kept safe.

The new policy document aims to provide clear guidance on owning, using, storing and charging mobility aids along with the procedure for requesting permission to have one in council housing and the reasons why.

The easy read document prepared by Fareham Housing said that all tenants need to ask for permission from the council sheltered housing officer to own and store a mobility aid in council housing. This is to ensure there is enough room to charge and store scooters safely, without blocking fire escapes.

The policy documents said it aims to make tenants aware of their responsibilities of owning a mobility aid, to keep it in good condition, storage, charging and encouraging adequate insurance. Individual users need insurance as the council does not provide it.

Mobility scooters are in three classes and Class 3 – battery powered wheelchairs and scooters with a maximum speed of 8mph that can be used on the road – must be registered with the DVLA.

As regards charging, the document said: “It is highly recommended that mobility aids are charged during the day to reduce risk to sleeping occupants.”

To avoid bin fires, the council warns of disposing of batteries properly at local household waste recycling centres. The report said if the electric product is bought new then the retailer must accept the old one for free.