BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Bike thefts reported to BikeRegister rose by 48% in June, compared to last year, following a drop during the early months of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Figures compiled for the first half of 2020 by the national cycle database show 786 thefts were reported last month. Previous months had seen a drop compared to last year, with 376 thefts reported in April, down 24.5% on 2019.
– January 2020 – 497 thefts (up 3.1% on last year)
– February 2020 – 460 thefts (down 8.4% on last year)
– March 2020 – 431 thefts (down 14.8% on last year)
– April 2020 – 376 thefts (down 24.5% on last year)
– May 2020 – 556 thefts (down 5.5% on last year)
– June 2020 – 786 thefts (up 48% on last year)
BikeRegister is endorsed by many organisations including the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and Transport for London. All UK police forces use the BikeRegister database to check recovered bikes on, to see if they are reported as stolen. The database is available to them 24/7 via the BikeRegister Police App. Registration is free via the BikeRegister website and there are now over 930,000 bicycles on the database.
James Brown, MD of BikeRegister, said: “Some new bike owners who purchased their bikes during lockdown will not necessarily be aware of the recent rise of cycle crime and what measures they need to take to combat it.
“As we move out of lockdown, I would ask all cycle retailers to play their part in helping reduce cycle crime too. They can do this by checking any second-hand bike offered to them on our free BikeChecker service on the website to make sure it has not been reported as stolen. They could also become a stockist of our retail marking kits and encourage each customer to use one to protect their new bike as soon as they have purchased it.”
The UK Police’s national lead for cycle crime, Supt Mark Cleland, said: ”There has been a huge surge in the purchase and use of bicycles during the pandemic and as we all exit lockdown there is a risk that criminals will benefit from poor locks and a lack of knowledge relating to what good cycle security looks like.”
Read the July edition of BikeBiz below:
