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Police find 101 stolen bikes in house in Oldham

Officers investigating theft of a bike from railway station in West Yorkshire discovered the huge haul

Police officers investigating the theft of a bike from a railway station in West Yorkshire followed a trail that led to them discovering 101 other stolen bicycles stored in a single house in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

The bikes, which were discovered last Friday, were kept in bedrooms and the back garden of the house, reports the Manchester Evening News.

British Transport Police confirmed that a man had been arrested on suspicion of fraud and handling stolen goods.

Officers are now collating the serial numbers of individual bikes to see if they can be matched to individual crime reports and reunited with their owners

Police used two vans to take the bikes away from the property, necessitating three trips in each vehicle.

In a post on Twitter, the force said: "CID have been kept busy this weekend after 101 suspected stolen bicycles were seized from an address in Oldham.

"Officers are now making their way through a long list of serial numbers, a male has been arrested and released under investigation as enquiries continue to trace owners."

In a separate statement, British Transport Police said: "Following an investigation by British Transport Police into a report of a bike theft in West Yorkshire, 101 bicycles were seized from a house in Oldham on February 15.

"A 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and the handling of stolen goods.

"He has been released under investigation while inquiries continue.

"The bikes have all been seized by police, and offers are now working to reunite them with their owners."

The news comes in a week when it was reported that British Transport Police is disbanding its specialist bike crime unit in London and the South East, with officers being redeployed to tackle violent crime, which the force sees as a higher priority.

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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SculturaD | 5 years ago
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brooksby | 5 years ago
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I can't get a certain Beatles song out of my head every time I read the headline...

(is that intentional, road.cc?)

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BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
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Problem is that many people don't bother with the serial numbers if indeed they have them in the first place, some modern bikes don't have them.

Identifying marks and somewhat odd/non spec components can help but I suspect most of these will end up being auctioned and never recovered by the owner, as much down to people knowing the police rarely find anything and/or think they will do anything so there's an apathy, feeling of futility in logging details.

We registered the theft of my mums bike, the drainpipe on the wall of the care home she was volunteering at was ripped off to bypass the lock, no luck whatsoever despite it being an uncommon model with specific changes to certain parts, I could ID it just by the inner tubes if they have stayed with the bike as they were woods valve types.

 

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Drinfinity | 5 years ago
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Police have released this CCTV footage of one of the suspect who are alleged to have stolen 101 bikes.

https://youtu.be/rk7PK-cb3LI

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