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Police in Oxford stop man with two stolen bikes ... and find 164 more in his garden

Thames Valley Police are now trying to find out how many have been reported stolen

Police in Oxford who stopped a man who was in possession of two stolen bikes had a surprise when they visited his house the following day to arrest him – they found a further 164 in his garden, and are trying to trace their owners.

Officers from Thames Valley Police stopped the man, who was carrying one bike and pushing along another, in Littlemore in the south of the city on Monday, reports the Oxford Mail.

They subsequently discovered that the bikes had been reported stolen, so on Tuesday went to the unnamed 48-year-old’s home to arrest him on suspicion of handling stolen goods and found the huge stash in his garden.

Police are now attempting to discover which of the bikes now in their possession have been reported stolen by their rightful owners.

The man was arrested and has been bailed until 8 May pending further investigation.

What remains unexplained is why the man’s neighbours did not view such a vast collection of bikes left outside as something out of the ordinary.

In 2014, people living near Maidstone pensioner David Watts complained to the local council about his horde of bikes, kept outside his house, being an “eyesore.”

> Pensioner's huge bike collection leads to complaints from neighbours

In this case, the bikes were not stolen – they had been collected by Mr Watts to be repaired or broken up for parts in the second-hand bike business he had set up in retirement.

Heading indoors, in 2011 we reported on a house for sale for almost £1 million in the leafy south west London suburb of Kew that was home to a vast collection of bikes, believed to have once belonged to the Kew Transport Museum.

> Love old bikes? Househunting in SW London? Got £1 million to spend? Then look here ...

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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