A recent report posted on St Albans City & District Council’s website revealed an 83.3 per cent increase in bike thefts.
The data compared the number of bike thefts in 2024, from April to June to those from July to September, revealing a significant increase.
Arran Jennings-Mares recently had his bike stolen from St Albans City station, after he left it locked on the Ridgemont Road side when he was in London.
He told St Albans News: “I got back from London at 5.45pm and found that my bike was missing and the chain had been cut straight through.”
Arran phoned the British Transport Police to report the crime, in the hope that they would be able to access footage from the CCTV that was pointing at the bike rack.
He said: “They were quick in answering the phone and the man I spoke to was very helpful, but they told me that unfortunately in order for them to look any further into the crime, the window of theft would have to be at maximum two hours due to bike thefts being a high-frequency crime.
“The advice they gave me was to look on second-hand websites in order to track if my bike was being sold and if it was, that I should get back in touch with them.
“I would say that it’s a shame that it’s become such a common crime because people want to cycle rather than drive to places, but they are put off due to this risk. Also, the advice they give would be very easy for a criminal to circumvent but I’ve learned my lesson now.”
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