Why bike theft needs to be re-criminalised, urgently

The British public don't trust the police to find their stolen bicycle, and why should they?

bike theft
(Image credit: Getty stock image)

The fear of my bike being stolen prevents me from locking it up pretty much anywhere in public. I'll leave it at home, inside, and at work, inside. Anywhere else is pretty much out of bounds, and on the rare occasions I do cycle somewhere and lock it up, outside a pub, for example, I will be wracked with anxiety that I will return to an empty bike rack, or even just something missing.

We all know this worry; bike theft seems like one of those crimes that just seems legal nowadays, one of the many inevitable results of the austerity measures of the Conservative government, which has included stripping back the numbers of police.

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Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.

Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.