A cycling blogger has raised concerns that Wandsworth Council prioritises car sharing over bike sharing after it seized 130 rental bikes from the streets.

Just last month the council announced that car sharing club Zipcar had been introduced to the borough, “which allows car club members to pick up and drop off hire cars on virtually any borough street”.

Members find a nearby car using a smartphone app and are charged by the minute once they drive off.

Drivers do not have to return the cars to where they picked them up.

However, last week the council seized the rental bikes, which were introduced to Wandsworth by Singapore-based company oBike a month ago, after receiving a “flood of complaints” about them “cluttering pavements and causing obstructions”.

Bike blogger Danny Williams tweeted both council stories, commenting: “Oh the sheer lack of irony.

“Wandsworth council removes shared bikes you can leave anywhere. But promotes shared cars you can leave anywhere.”

Cyclists also use an app to unlock and lock the bikes so they can leave them anywhere in the borough without using docking stations.

Mr Williams, who won local campaigner of the year in 2011, said: “It seems odd that the council wants to promote short journeys by car not by bike when we all know we need fewer local journeys by car to reduce congestion and pollution.

“It would be good if the council looked to make alternatives to driving more realistic for people.

The council, who described the bikes as a “yellow plague”, responded to the comparison by saying “we haven’t had to fish the cars out of the river and they are not blocking pavements.”

A council spokesperson said: “Wandsworth has one of London’s most ambitious pro-cycling strategies which has helped deliver the fastest increasing cycling rate in the entire country.

“We funded an extension of London’s cycle hire scheme to the borough, are delivering new quietway routes and improving cycling facilities right across Wandsworth.

“We provide free cycling lessons to help more people get the confidence to ride and are progressing plans for two cycling and pedestrian bridges across the Thames.

“We also support car clubs as they are proven to reduce overall car usage and help people give up private car ownership.”

The council confirmed it is now in talks with oBike for the first time, stating it does not want to get rid of the scheme, but is “trying to get them to change their operating model”.

Responding to the round-up of the bikes, residents bemoaned the lack of bike stands available in the borough.

Councillor Fleur Anderson, Labour spokesperson for community services and keen cyclist, said: “The confiscation of oBikes has revealed the dearth of cycle parking places across Wandsworth.

“The council now needs to catch up with a welcome surge of interest in cycling by putting in more cycle hoops and hangars.

“It's easy to add cycle parking to existing road signs and would encourage more cycling.”

Local cycling campaigner Jon Irwin, who has been lobbying the council for years for more bike stands and hangers, said: “The council could have adopted a more supportive tone about an innovative approach to increasing transport options in Wandsworth given the cost associated with extending the Santander Bike Hire scheme particularly to the south of the borough.

“The company behind the bike hire scheme, carries some responsibility on their lack of engagement with the council prior to the bikes being placed on the streets.”

The council said there are no images available of the bikes dumped in Wandsworth because officers “just picked them up and brought them into the depot” with taking photos.