Bike theft could be on the up in Hackney Central despite police figures suggesting otherwise.
According to the Metropolitan Police there were just six bicycle thefts in Hackney Central last month, but Laura Wilson, an employee at London Fields Cycles, told the Hackney Post that she sees “at least four or five people a week who have had their bikes stolen”.
That discrepancy would suggest that around 120 thefts a year could go unreported in Hackney Central alone, with thousands going unreported across the borough as a whole.
“People know that there isn’t anything the police are going to do about a stolen bike unless they’ve been registered,” Wilson said. “Even then it’s pretty unlikely it’ll get found.”
Cycling in the ward has increased in recent years, with almost 17 per cent of residents cycling to work every day according census figures published in 2010.
But the increase in bike usage has also meant a surge in thefts.
“It’s got worse in the last year,” says Wilson. “I’ve seen six already this week.”
Thieves in Hackney, which currently has the top ten wards for cyclists in London, have been getting smarter too.
“They know what they’re stealing” Wilson said. “They’re beginning to target the really expensive parts of the bikes, and it’s only getting worse.”
