Police warn Leicester cyclists over upturn in cycle theft

Police in Leicester are holding a series of events to warn cyclists to take precautions to avoid their bikes being stolen after a sharp increase in thefts of bicycles in the city.

The Leicester Mercury says that the cycle theft awareness sessions will be held in city centre locations including by the Clock Tower, and come after 33 separate incidents were reported to Leicestershire Police in a two-week period last month.

The sessions will include highlighting how easy it is for thieves to break cheap locks – with some recent thefts being of bikes that were secured with cables that could be cut with nothing more than a pair of garden secateurs, according to police.

Inspector Simon Preston, commander of city centre police, commented: "We will be doing this work in the very near future at the Clock Tower and other high profile locations.

"It's an education exercise so we'll be showing people how to secure their cycles and how easy it is to break some of the cheaper locks."

People are advised to park their bikes in safer locations including the Bike Park on Town Hall Square as well as at Leicester railway station, and to take photographs of the frame number and other distinctive features of their bikes.

The newspaper says that after 500 recorded thefts of bicycles in the city 2012/13, the figure jumped to 573 for 2013/14 and according to police is likely to hit 650 for the current financial year – an increase of 30 per cent in just two years.

Here’s road.cc’s tips on cycle security - make sure you read the comments for some sound advice from other readers.