Everyone knows that the right number of bikes to own is N+1, where N is the number you already have. But the neighbours of a Maidstone man whose bike collection has spilled out into his front garden and on to the street say he's taken it a bit too far.
David Watts insists his accumulation of bikes isn't scrap, but bikes he plans to repair or use for parts in his retirement business selling secondhand bikes.
He told Ed McConnell of Kent Online: "It's just a hobby that has got out of hand. I repair neighbours' bikes – if they bring one round I'll fix it for them.
"It's a bit untidy but I can't help that, I'm an untidy person. I need something to do in my old age."
But neighbours of the 73-year-old former driving instructor have complained to Maidstone Borough Council that Watts' piles of bike have turned his house into an eyesore, and the trailers parked outside are a traffic hazard.
The Council has been in touch with Watts about removing the bikes on the grounds that they were scrap, but he says they will all be repaired or used for parts. He does admit he accumulates bikes faster than he can sell them.
Watts told the Daily Mail he makes abut £50 a week selling bikes to locals.
He said: "People have a problem because they don't like my trailers being parked in the public parking bays but I'm not breaking the law.
"My wife isn't happy about the whole thing and she has banned me from keeping them indoors.
"But it is a little bit of extra money that helps us to tick by."
Watts looks after his disabled wife Maureen full time, but she's no fan of his bike habit, complaining that she can no longer do the gardening.
Watts appears to be completely within his rights and the law, though.
He said: "This is not council property, this is my house. I'm registered as a bike dealer and have a scrap metal license, but if I was a scrap dealer then I wouldn't keep it all here as that would be pointless.”
Maidstone council's parking services department told Kent Online that Watt's trailers are not in breach of parking regulations as they are not attached to vehicles.
One of Watts' neighbours said: "When David ran the scrap business from the same address I had no problem with it, but this has escalated now.
"He has more bikes than a cycle shop and it's getting to be a bit of an eyesore."
A Maidstone Borough Council spokesman said: "We have received complaints about the property being untidy and are looking into the issue."
20 thoughts on “Pensioner’s huge bike collection leads to complaints from neighbours”
This is just extreme hording,
This is just extreme hording, the man has a mental condition
Simmo72 wrote:This is just
Well thank you for that Dr Ruth.
If you want some idea of “extreme” hoarding (even labelling it ‘extreme’ shows little understand of the condition) then I suggest watching Martin Hampton’s excellent film, ”Possessed”
If anything, sounds like the guy cant say no to people giving him old bikes and his input is greater than his output so he is getting overwhelmed. If he was hoarding then he would not be doing them up and selling them on.
I have a neighbour that is a hoarder and his front garden is full of a variety of toot but he repairs and rebuilds all the local kids bikes, teaching them how to look after them.
Maybe this guy should look at enlisting doing the same and maybe even turning it in to a bike co-op like one near me?
Well done zanf, someone at
Well done zanf, someone at last with a sensible opinion and solution. I totally agree with you. Mr Watts DOES NOT HAVE A MENTAL ILLNESS just a passion for bikes and enjoys recycling, repairing and helping people within his community. This man sells his bikes at very reasonable prices, he just does not have a much time to mend them as he is caring for his wife.
I like how his legally parked
I like how his legally parked trailers are considered a “traffic hazard” by the neighbours but their similarly parked cars aren’t.
Has he ever returned or even managed to repair a bike?
Dr Ruth!? What’s an American
Dr Ruth!? What’s an American sex therapist got to do with the article?
MaxP wrote:Dr Ruth!? What’s
About as much relevance as someones pop-psyche assessment based on a ropey news article.
This is totally a vision of
This is totally a vision of my future 😐
He told Ed McConnell of Kent
[i]He told Ed McConnell of Kent Online: “It’s just a hobby that has got out of hand. I repair neighbours’ bikes – if they bring one round I’ll fix it for them.”[/i]
“…but then I never give them back”, he forgot to add.
That one just there (9th from
That one just there (9th from the left, 4th one down) would have a nice home on my turbo trainer.
I stunned that he doesn’t
I stunned that he doesn’t have local scallies and scrap dealers stealing them.
Although with this added publicity that may well come.
When i was a kid there was a
When i was a kid there was a local family called the Hedges that were totters at the local dump.
They had a yard with tons of bike bits and we’d go over there with our spanners and ask Old man Hedges if it was ok to build a bike.
He would charge us 50p for whatever we built.
We even used to letter the frames up as a “Hedges special”.
Hasn’t every town got an old
Hasn’t every town got an old boy who does up bikes and sells them for £30 from his garden?
Im already planning the day.
IanW1968 wrote:Hasn’t every
My town definitely has! My three year old son is riding around on one of his treasures right now. I have to say though, he has an awful lot of very old tat in his yard! Picking out the treasures is hard work!
thats not a bike collection,
thats not a bike collection, it’s a tip!
We must not jump to
We must not jump to conclusions whilst reading road cc. I reckon he’s probably an under cover agent for MTN Qhubeka – UK Division, Regional Collection Manager. Well, he could be?
Brilliant!
Brilliant!
>>>>”My wife isn’t happy
>>>>”My wife isn’t happy about the whole thing and she has banned me from keeping them indoors”.
Marital disharmony might be the underlying reason this guy has so many
A place where BSOs go when
A place where BSOs go when they die :S
Agree with previous
Agree with previous commenter: he’s tackling the local problem in the wrong way. He should set up a cooperative business and train others to fix bicycles.
I do this and have an
I do this and have an impressive collection of old BSOs myself, however I find that if I pull my finger out of my arse I can fix em up or strip em fairly quickly then sell the bikes and weigh in the scrap, thus avoiding such a ridiculous mountain. I make a better living doing this than I can working in bike shops so if he only makes £50 a week it’s probably just because he is lazy.