Free-floating rented electric scooters have disappeared from the streets of Paris as a battle between their fans and those who consider them a pedestrian-bothering nuisance culminated in an all-out ban.

The French capital is the first in Europe to completely ban the hire scooters from its streets, after voters overwhelmingly elected to remove them in an April referendum. 

However, there was only a 7.5 percent turnout for the vote.

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Friday's move putting an official end to usage after five years of users zipping through crowds of pedestrians or parking awkwardly on pavements – as well as causing a string of accidents.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo had herself campaigned against scooters, saying removing them would reduce "nuisance."

But others are mourning the vehicles' removal. 

"It makes me sad, because I liked so much to be able to get around like that, go wherever without the stress of using a car, getting stuck in traffic jams," scooter user Valerie Rinckel said a few days before the ban came into force.

But another customer, Anass Eloula, said that "it's safer to stop now and get back to bikes, or for people to take the bus or public transport."

David Belliard, deputy Paris mayor in charge of urban mobility, told reporters that the case against the rental scooters was overwhelming despite efforts by operators to address problems.

"There was some progress, but the bottom line is still negative," he said. "The anarchy was quite unbearable."

Meanwhile, France's government on Friday hiked the minimum age for riding electric scooters from 12 to 14 and introduced heavier fines for traffic violations, after an increase in accidents involving the vehicles.

Operators Lime, Tier and Dott have been gradually removing their 15,000 machines from public streets, planning to send them off to other cities in Europe and beyond after repair and maintenance work.

Some will even remain in the wider Ile-de-France region around Paris, with Tier offering service in suburbs like Marne-la-Vallee and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

"We've turned the page on scooters" for the whole Paris region, said Xavier Mirailles, Lime's public affairs director.

The Californian firm will send its scooters to Lille in northern France, London, Copenhagen and several German cities, while Dott's will go to Belgium and Tel Aviv.

Instead of scooters, the firms hope customers will switch to floating hire bicycles, which all of them already offer.

"Rather than giving in to nostalgia, we prefer to look to the future," said Tier's France chief Clement Pette, pointing to 5,000 bikes in his Paris stable.

Lime's Mirailles said that "bicycle development is showing strong growth," with a "very exciting outlook" for the 10,000-machine company.

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