Cycle Theft Hotspots Named And Shamed

THE WORST PLACES TO LEAVE YOUR BIKE REVEALED

This month, Protect Your Bubble published a list of the top 100 bicycle theft hotspots, based on an analysis of recorded crime data from every police force in England and Wales, covering the year to September 2016.

Here’s what we found…

• The worst place in to leave your bike is Elder Gate at Milton Keynes railway station
• In the 12 months to September nearly 82,000 bikes were stolen - that’s 227 every day or nearly 1,600 a week
• In almost three quarters (72%) of incidents the thieves got away with it

The research shows that parking your bike at a railway station carries the highest risk of it being stolen and that thieves also frequently target shopping centres, car parks, hospitals and colleges.

The latest police records for the 12 months to September this year show the locations where nearly 82,000 bikes were stolen. That’s 227 every day or nearly 1,600 a week. In 72% of incidents the thieves got away with it as the records show that no suspect was identified and the investigation was closed.

The worst place in to leave your bike is Elder Gate at Milton Keynes railway station. In the past year 72 bikes were stolen from the parking area on the street and a further 19 from another location on the road, which runs around the front of the station.

Another area next to a railway station comes second on a list of the worst locations for bike theft - Meridian Square, next to Stratford railway station in Newham, East London. The square is near to upmarket shopping centre Westfield, and the entrance to the Olympic Park.

Third on the street of shame list for cycle theft is Station Road in Cambridge. As its name indicates, it is once again a location by a mainline railway station that is a top target for the thieves.

Cambridge is exposed in the research by Protect Your Bubble as the bike theft capital of the country. The area covered by Cambridge City Council clocked up 2,173 thefts in the 12 months and streets within the city account for 13 of the top 100 bike theft locations listed in the police data, more than any other local authority area.

The top five city and council areas also include Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford and Hackney – the favourite hipster hangout in northeast London.

The bike theft problem in Cambridge and its great university rival, Oxford, is underlined when the thefts are calculated per 1,000 residents.

The overall rate for England and Wales is 1.4 thefts per 1,000 people. In Cambridge it’s 16.6 and in Oxford 9.1.

Places where cycling is most popular are targeted by thieves. Government figures on physical activity show that across England 9.5% of adults cycle at least once a week. In Cambridge it’s 52%, Oxford 33%, Hackney 19% and York 27% - all places with the highest prevalence of bike thefts, according to the police records.

When taken as a whole, including all the 33 boroughs, London has over a fifth of reported thefts with nearly 18,000 recorded by the Met and the City of London Police.

Perhaps the safest place to leave a bicycle is West Devon which registered only four bike thefts in the past 12 months.

South Hams, also in Devon, the Isles of Scilly and Rutland councils all had bike thefts in single figures, according to the police.

The location data recorded by the police reveals 13 colleges and 11 car parks among the top 100 places where thieves struck most frequently. Eight city centre shopping areas are also listed, including Cardiff, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Derby, Leicester, Manchester, Portsmouth and Haringey in London. There are also five hospitals in the top 100 locations where a total of 111 bikes were recorded as stolen.

Rob Basinger, head of UK at bicycle insurer Protect Your Bubble said: “When you contrast the cycle theft rate for Oxbridge with England and Wales, it’s abundantly clear these university towns are as popular with thieves as students. There’s no safety in numbers, either. In towns like Cambridge, a high number of cyclists results in a high number of thefts.

“Bike theft is a nationwide issue but there are some streets that stand out as having a particular problem. Commuters leaving bikes at railway stations for any length of the time stand a chance of being targeted.

“If you have to leave your bike on the street then make sure it is locked securely and, as with any item of value, if you think it may be at risk then consider taking out insurance for extra peace of mind.”

The table below shows the top 100 hotspots for bicycle theft in England and Wales:

Source: Data.police.uk, analysed by Protect Your Bubble

Methodology: Based on the most recent recorded crime data from all police forces in England and Wales covering the 12 months October 2015 to September 2016.

Data source links:

https://data.police.uk

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-area-walking-and-cycling-in-england-2014-to-2015

If you’re a journalist, and you need any more information, please contact:

Emily Garnham, Rhizome Media

E emily@rhizomemedia.co