Twenty-three cyclists registered their machines at Shoreditch police station this week to tackle the borough’s sky-high bike theft rate.
Hackney is the second worst borough in London for the crime with 1,650 bikes being stolen between April 2011 and March 2012, increasing almost 9 per cent from the previous year.
The free event was part of an initiative by Hackney Safer Transport which has logged over 800 bikes with national property register Immobilise since the start of October.
Police marked each bike with a barcode linked to the cyclists’ details, making stolen bikes traceable to their original owners.
PC Stuart Pacey said: “People will attach a £5 lock to a £1,000 bike in one wheel and then be surprised when it’s gone,”
“There are hundreds of bikes in the station here and at Stoke Newington but it’s hard to find their owners.”
Cyclists who attended the event welcomed the technology.
Trudi Holt, 46, brought her new bike down to be registered after her last one’s back wheel was stolen. “I don’t think the police can do much more,” she said.
James Davis, 27, said: “It’s a free service and there are criminals out there so it’s worth doing.”
For information about more events like this, see http://content.met.police.uk/Page/UpcomingEvents?scope_id=1257246763910
