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Met Police arrest three in Brick Lane stolen bike crackdown

Tower Hamlets Police made the arrests as part of a new operation tackling bike thieves around the notorious East London market

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of selling stolen bicycles at Brick Lane Market in East London, at the start of a new operation by local police to crack down on the sale of stolen bikes in the area.

Twenty bikes were reported stolen on Brick Lane in the first two months of 2016, and more than 100 in 2015, according to East London Lines, and police say thousands of bikes are sold at the Market each year, many of which are believed to be stolen.

Tower Hamlets Police are now targeting the notorious market to bring to book some of those involved and reduce cycle theft in the area.

Beginner's guide to bike security—how to stop bike thieves and protect your bike

Of the 17,000 bikes reported stolen across London between 2014-15, more than 1000 were in Tower Hamlets, according to Metropolitan Police statistics.

The London Cycling Campaign’s Amy Summer, said: “Bike theft is sadly a common problem in London but there’s plenty that people can do to help prevent it.

She said bikes need to be marked and registered online to give police the chance to return stolen cycles to their owners, and two good locks should be deployed.

“For the best deterrent you should be using two good locks to secure your bicycle, preferably of two different kinds so that a thief can’t use the same tools on both.”

Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.

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5 comments

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robertoegg | 8 years ago
0 likes

17000 bikes a year??!? wow...

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dafyddp | 8 years ago
1 like

To reduce railways lines and churches being stripped of copper and lead, scrap yards can no longer pay in cash (cheques and bank transfer only). Don't know if it's practical to do something similar? Or at the very least, only allow registered market traders that need to display a badge or whatever?

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 8 years ago
2 likes

Stolen bicycles at Brick Lane Market? Well there's a surprise, not.

 

It has been notorious for decades, not just a few years.

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Judge dreadful | 8 years ago
1 like

It's about time they got some of these scrotum suckers.

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EddyBerckx | 8 years ago
2 likes

It's been a notorious place for selling stolen bikes for many, many years.

 

Better late than never...

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