London cycling: One percent of bike thieves identified, Met data shows

Some boroughs have not identified any cycling thieves in the last 12 months

Only 1% of London bike thefts in the last 12 months resulted in a charge or caution, according to Metropolitan Police data.

More than 18,800 thefts were reported between November 2021 and October 2022, but only 206 sanctions were recorded.

London Cycling Campaign said it was "not good for the city" and would "deter people from cycling".

The Met said due to the number of calls, it was not possible to carry out a lengthy investigation in every case.

Hackney, Southwark and Tower Hamlets recorded the most thefts over the last 12 months, although across the capital the total number of bikes reported stolen was down 18% compared with the previous year.

Bike hangers often have long waiting lists

Analysis

By Tom Edwards, BBC London Transport Correspondent

Experts say many stolen bikes end up on auction websites and the sites should be doing more to stop that.

Others say bike theft can be an entry-level crime which can lead to more serious offending.

The data isn't simple though.

The borough of Waltham Forest reported a 45% decrease while Haringey experienced the second-largest drop with 34%, followed by Enfield (34%) and Lewisham (33%).

When parking your bike, Waltham Forest Council are among numerous bodies which recommend cyclists use a heavy-duty D-lock along with another high-quality lock.

• Read more from Tom here

Cycling increased in popularity following the pandemic

In Croydon and Havering, no offenders were identified despite a combined 325 offences.

Tom Bogdanowicz, senior policy officer at London Cycling Campaign, said the true number of crimes was "significantly higher" than the reported figures.

He said up to a quarter of bike theft victims never cycle again.

"It's not good for the city, because if there's less cycling then there are more emissions from cars, more congestion, and people's health isn't improving.

"Building cycling infrastructure is an excellent way of encouraging cycling, but if people have their bikes stolen then you lose customers."

In a statement, the Met said it understood thefts were "upsetting and very frustrating for victims".

"It is not possible to physically send officers, or to carry out a lengthy investigation, in every case", the statement said.

It added local neighbourhood policing teams "review information and intelligence regularly" to recover property.

The publicly available data was collated and analysed by London criminal defence solicitors Lawtons.

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