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Boris Bike turns up in Wolverhampton – 3 years after disappearing in London

Hire bike found 12 hours’ ride from capital in Bradley – well, 12 hours’ ride if your surname is Wiggins, maybe

One of London’s Boris Bikes has turned up in Wolverhampton – three years after it went missing in the capital.

Police found the hire bike last month in the suburb of Bradley, although they are at a loss to explain how it got there.

In a post on Twitter, Wolverhampton CID said: "A London Cycle Scheme bike seized in Bradley! The bike will be going back to London where it has been missing since 2011!! @MayorofLondon."

No details were provided of who hired the bike, or whether they were charged a penalty – not returning one of the dark blue bikes incurs a charge of £150, while failure to return one at all attracts a penalty of £300.

An article in the Express & Star adds: “According to Google Maps it would take a cyclist around 12 hours to cycle the distance between London and Bradley.”

Given the weight of the clunkers, we suspect you’d need the appropriate surname of Wiggins to cover the distance in that time.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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severs1966 | 9 years ago
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"not returning one of the dark blue bikes incurs a charge of £150, while failure to return one at all attracts a penalty of £300."

What's the difference between "not returning" something and "failure to return" that something? This difference seems to be worth an extra £150, so we should be told.

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Notsofast | 9 years ago
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Someone should ride it back to see if 12 hours is doable.

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levermonkey | 9 years ago
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Was the hirer was just looking for an empty docking station?  24

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andybwhite | 9 years ago
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“According to Google Maps it would take a cyclist around 12 hours to cycle the distance between London and Bradley.”

12 hours on a decent bike - 3 years on a Boris Bike  3

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