Police under fire for refusing to help cyclists retrieve stolen bikes
Police have been criticised for failing to help cyclists retrieve their stolen bicycles.
It has meant some cyclists have resorted to “dangerous” methods to get them back themselves.
Two victims in Bristol said they tracked down their own pushbikes after police said they were unable to help.
Fiona Ryalls, 33, tracked down her stolen bike after seeing it had been put up for sale on social media.
Josh Steven, 29, said he had used a tracking device to find his bicycle but was threatened when he tried to reclaim it.
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK spokesman, told the BBC: “We’ve been pushing the police to look at the targeted focus on the sale of second-hand bikes for some time.
“If those that are stealing bikes realise that it’s quite hard for them to sell them online that will impact the choices they make.”
He said he hoped that would stop people taking dangerous action themselves.
Earlier in 2024 Home Office data revealed that more than 365,000 bike thefts reported to police had gone unsolved since 2019, accounting for 89 per cent of all cases.
This adds up to 200 bike thefts a day – more than eight an hour – going unsolved in England and Wales over the past four years.
Of the 365,706 thefts, just 8,437 (two per cent) resulted in an arrest and charge in the year to June 2023.
Avon and Somerset Police advised against people taking action themselves, saying it could put them at risk and harm a police investigation.
Found it for sale
Ms Ryalls told the BBC she was “heartbroken” when she got a call to say her bike had been stolen in August.
After scouring social media, she found it for sale for £55 and arranged to meet the seller, taking her fiance and a male friend for back-up.
She told police about her plan and said she was not dissuaded from going.
“I asked to test drive the bike and I cycled off with it,” she said. “I would have felt a lot more secure if I’d had police back-up or even if they had offered to come with me.”
Avon and Somerset Police said it prioritised attendance in line with operational demand and when risk to the public was high.
“Unfortunately, there are often very few proportionate lines of inquiry to follow and, as a result, the chances of solving the theft are low,” it said.
The British crime survey, where people are asked about their actual experience of crime, estimates there are about 300,000 bike thefts a year.
Mr Steven, whose bike was stolen in December 2023, used a GPS tracker hidden in the frame to find it and was able to see it inside a property.
He said when he called the police he was told an officer would be sent if he “could go to the property and get eyes on the bike”.
Mr Steven said that when he knocked on the door of the house a man initially threatened to stab him.
After a heated conversation another member of the household gave him the bike back.
The case did not result in a prosecution, Mr Steven said.