133 Merida bikes stolen from container at Fleet Services

Over 100 Merida bikes have been stolen from a container that was on its way to the company’s logistics facility in Felixstowe.

The theft took place on Thursday 12^th May at Fleet Services on the M3, a secure lorry park equipped with CCTV and ANPR. The 40’ container, retrieved from Southampton port, was broken into and 133 bikes were stolen.

Merida said its logistics partner instructs all drivers to only park at secure facilities. Despite the security arrangements, thieves cut through the container locks and offloaded 133 of the 210 bikes.

The bike stolen were (description and count):

Big Trail 400 – (L) 17″ Orange/Black: 11
Big Trail 400 – (M) 16″ Orange/Black: 3
Big Trail 600 – (L) 17″ Purple: 100
Big Trail 600 – (XL) 18″ Purple: 6
Scultura 400 – (L) 56cm Golden Red/Grey: 3
Scultura 400 – (XL) 59cm Golden Red/Grey: 7
Speeder 100 – (S/M) 52cm Grey/Blue/Red: 1
Speeder 100 – (XS) 47cm Grey/Blue/Red: 2

Total: 133

Lorry crime is a growing problem and there have been cases of drivers being gassed in their cabs to keep them asleep. Merida said its driver was unharmed, and he has followed procedure and provided as much evidence as possible to the police.

The company’s logistics partner is working with the lorry park operator and the police to try and trace the criminals.

This is the first such theft in over 20 years for Merida, and was the result of random targeting as the company said nobody could know what was in the container.

Merida has published a full list of stolen bikes with frame numbers on its B2B and consumer websites. If you are aware of anyone offering these bikes for sale, please contact 0115 981 7788 or merida@meridauk.com.

Read more: Carbon Wasp unveils new 29er, hand built in Yorkshire

Earlier this year, Giant announced that 127 of its electric bikes had been stolen. Taken from the A12, the company said thieves cut through the container locks and offloaded the full load onto another vehicle. The incident happened on 17th February.