Having a bike - or anything else- stolen is a dreadful experience - so this article from the BBC really caught our eye.

This is what the British Transport Police says on its website (click here) about how cyclists should deter bike theft :-

"Our practical tips will help keep your bike safe and out of the hands of thieves – and also advise on how to get it back if it is stolen.The most important thing to remember is, double lock your bike and register the frame number. Follow these 10 tips to ensure your bike remains safe, secure and not a statistic" [..]

Tip 5. Park securely

"Lock your bike at recognised secure cycle parking. It should be well lit and covered by CCTV."

Below however is - as quoted in the BBC article mentioned above by their transport corespondent, Tom Edwards. (@BBCTomEdwards) - an excerpt from the current BTP policy as to what will not be investigated 

Volume Crime Assessment Factors

Theft of a Pedal Cycle – J13

• If the cycle has been left at the location for over 2 hours
• If the value of the cycle is below £200

Obviously, BTP's ability to investigate bike theft is resource dependent  - but unwillingness to investigate thefts of bikes parked for more than 2 hours at expensively constructed cycle parks outside stations is not good news. On the Hope Valley line for example, Dore and Totley station has recently benefited from a major upgrade, including a new platform, new lifts and a sheltered bike parking area for 20 bikes within the station car park with CCTV. See details here 

Bike maintenance and bike security has also been the focus of a recent Guardian feature (The Filter, Online, 14th October). The article by Charlie Allenby included an interesting claim about the 'proven' ability of a certain brand of bicycle lock to 'stop even angle-grinders'

No sooner had this article been published, however, when one reader (Jon Blower, London)  wrote in to the Guardian Letters page as follows:-

Your article about bicycle maintenance (The Filter, 14 October) quotes Ryan Elson saying that Kryptonite locks are “proven to stop even angle grinders”. I’d like to see the proof. A few days ago I got back to the station to find my bicycle gone and my Kryptonite lock cleanly severed not once, but twice, surely by cordless angle grinder. The police aren’t investigating.

STOP PRESS 21/10/25

The topic of bike thefts from stations and the policies of British Transport Police are featured in episode 1 of Season 4 (at minute 54'12)  of Christian Wolmar's "Calling All Stations" as advertised on the Cogitamus website. The question is asked as to why the British Transport Police has advertised how easy it is to steal a bike!

Elsewhere....

On a personal note, reading Jon Blower's letter brought back memories of the three bikes I've had stolen, and the fact that in each case they were securely locked to a fixed, solid object.

The first one to go was a Cannondale, locked up securely in a securely locked Rowing Club boat shed. The second bike was locked with two heavy chains to railings outside my block of flats, and the most recent one - a Dahon folding bike - was locked with a Kryptonite D lock to a steel bar inside a locked storage area of my residential building.

I made a Police report for the first one and claimed on my insurance. Bike gone for ever. The second theft happened where I was living in Hong Kong. The HK SAR Police sent two officers to the scene, drew up a detailed report and a week or so later sent me a letter saying what a good citizen I was for reporting crime. They suspected that the bike had been assumed to be an expensive one (it wasn't) as it was so securely locked up, and thought it would already be across the border in the PRC. The third bike was (I'm 99.9% sure) tracked down on ebay by a friend. I gave all the details of the seller and his/her geographical location to the Police in the area I was living at the time, and rang the Police in the area where it appeared for sale - nothing ever happened.

The website of the national Police-approved bike database Bike Register is here

The British Transport Police can be contacted via:

<btpa-enquiries@btp.police.uk>

You can read their 2022 - 2025 Policing Plans here