Almost 90% of bike thefts in England go unsolved

There were 77,201 reported bike thefts in England last year

Almost 90% of bike thefts reported in England in 2022 went unsolved, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.

The research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows that no suspect was identified in 89.2% of the 77,201 cases, while there were charges in 1,071 (1.7%) of thefts.

It is a slight increase on 2021 when 89% of 73,979 bike thefts were unsolved.

One cyclist said having her bicycle taken had "deterred me from cycling".

In London, 93% of 15,899 bike thefts went unsolved, with only 136 cases resulting in a charge.

Emma O'Callaghan had her bicycle taken in Hammersmith, west London, in July 2022.

The trainee lawyer, who is from the capital, told the BBC she had "locked my bike on a busy road directly under a CCTV camera... and when I returned a few hours later it had been stolen".

Emma had her bike stolen in Hammersmith

She said she contacted the police who reviewed the CCTV footage, which showed two men stealing her bike, but officers soon closed the case deeming the footage not high quality enough.

She added: "Having my bike stolen has deterred me from cycling.

"I now don't lock my bike on a public street as I know that if it goes missing, the police won't do anything about it.

"The police need to take bike thefts more seriously and catch the criminals behind it."

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: "We take every incident of bicycle theft seriously and recognise the distress this crime causes its victims.

"When a report is received officers will carry out every reasonable line of inquiry to recover the property and bring any suspect to justice."

They added: "Anyone who owns a bicycle is urged to get it security marked and registered at BikeRegister – this helps officers return stolen property to its rightful owner, and it also helps to bring prosecutions."

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney blamed the government for the number of thefts, saying: "Home Office ministers seem content to let tens of thousands of thefts go unsolved every year.

“These figures show the Conservative government is effectively decriminalising bike theft in our local communities."

The figures, which break down performance by police force, found the Met was the fourth worst behind Sussex, Hampshire and British Transport Police.

Other forces with high rates of unsolved bike thefts include Surrey Police, where only nine out of 1,098 reported cases ended in charges.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We want offenders charged and brought to justice in the courts, therefore we are working with partners across the criminal justice system to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and to speed up the process.”