On patrol with the company recovering stolen bikes

Thousands of bikes have been stolen in London this year

Bilal Ali, a recovery agent at BackPedal, which recovers stolen e-bikes, is on the hunt near Waterloo for a food delivery driver's stolen cycle.

Just 0.6% of bike thefts in London this year resulted in a charge, prosecution or caution.

Mr Ali, who uses a scanner to follow a tracker attached to the bike, described the search as "like a game of cat and mouse".

As first reported in London Centric, just 39 of the 6,721 stolen bicycles reported to the Metropolitan police between January and July led to a "positive outcome".

Bilal eyes up his target

Mr Ali, having tracked an intermittent GPS signal, walked up to a black front door, peered through a letterbox and - inside a communal hallway - spotted the missing bike.

After explaining to situation to another resident in the building, he is allowed in and the bike is safely removed before being returned to its rightful owner.

"I know it seems too good to be true," Mr Ali said, "but nine times out of 10 it's as easy as that.

"I told him we can talk about it peacefully, there's no reason to get the police involved or anything like that and the courier gets his bike back.

"Thank God he doesn't have to pay his [insurance] excess and we can get him back on the road earning."

Viny's bike was stolen from a repair shop

Viny Bodhani had his £1,700 bike - his main method of commuting - stolen from a repair shop on the North Circular.

Mr Bodhani, from Southgate, used BackPedal to get it back

He said: "We know the police are stretched, as are lots of our public services, and, unfortunately, I just don't think they'll have the time for us so to have such low expectations to get your bike back is very saddening.

"I think, unfortunately, we're in that sort of world at the moment whereby if you lose it, it's gone and you're out of pocket financially, not to mention then the add-on of missing work and so on."

A spokesperson for the Met said the force "recognised the impact of bike theft and understand the disruption it has on victims.

"It is costly and can cause huge inconvenience.

"Please rest assured we will investigate all crimes which are reported to us, as well as carrying out extra patrols and operations across London as appropriate."