Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, believes that this is partly connected to the growth in the sale of stolen bikes at Brick Lane market.
The overall growth in the number of people cycling also accounts for some of the growth in thefts, with boroughs like Camden, Westminster and Wandsworth all near the top of the bike theft league table. Overall, the London-wide totals for the three years are:
2001/02 14,3402002/03 15,8122003/04 19,261
Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, has asked the borough commander of Islington police to take action on the record levels of bike theft. The number of bicycles stolen in Islington has jumped 66% to 1898 in 2003 (source: Met Police). This makes Islington the biggest centre of bicycle theft in London.
Year 2001 2002 2003Bike thefts in Islington 829 1140 1898
The police believe this represents only around 25% of actual thefts.
Jenny has written to the borough commander of Tower Hamlets, asking for him to stop the illegal sale of up to a hundred bikes at Brick Lane market every week. Jenny decided to act after her own bike was stolen last week from bike racks outside London’s City Hall. She has visited places where it is known that stolen bikes are sold in an attempt to get her bike back and has called on the police to do more to clamp down on the illegal trade.
Jenny said:
“It’s time the Met started taking the issue of bike thefts seriously. This is a crime that is increasing as cycling becomes more popular and the police really should be making more effort to recover stolen bikes and return them to their owners. We also need a better system for marking and registering bikes, so that the stolen ones can be easily identified, and bike shops should mark and register bikes automatically.”
“With new bikes selling for an average of £400 a time and over 100 stolen bikes changing hands each Sunday morning at Brick Lane market, this is a lucrative trade for young thieves worth tens of thousands of pounds. That kind of money can finance a lot of drugs and other illegal activities.”
In some boroughs the police recovery/clear-up rate is non-existent. Jenny discovered that there was an average of only one incident per month being cleared up in Tower Hamlets. That is less than 2% of the bike thefts there.
In Islington the police have previously offered free bike tags (UV dots) at selected shops. If widely used this would enable police to check bikes at Brick Lane or cash converter shops with UV pens and identify stolen bikes.
The London Cycling Campaign has seen rapid growth in its bike insurance scheme for members. It also publishes advice on bike parking and marking at its website www.lcc.org.uk.
Notes to editors