Stolen bike returned to owner in Bath

Police officers have returned a stolen bicycle to its original owner in Batheaston.

The bike was stolen on 16 July from the owner’s home in Batheaston, the area in particular was recently targeted by thieves who stole eight bikes from five different properties.

A number of the stolen bikes were found in various locations by local residents and through a combination of assistance from the local community and follow up enquiries conducted by Police officers, four out of the eight bikes have so far been recovered with two having been returned.

PCSO Rich Riley, who returned this bike, said: “It’s great to be able to reunite this owner with his bike.

“We are really grateful to the local Batheaston community for their help and support in recovering these bikes which has most definitely supported our investigation.

“We understand that a number of bicycle thefts have come as result of owners selling their bikes online. We ask sellers to be cautious when giving out personal information such as their home address and where possible meet potential buyers in public places.

“We are also still hearing from victims who had their bikes stolen who haven’t recorded the details of the bicycles, taken pictures and registered them online. This makes it even more difficult to recover and return the bikes so I encourage all bike owners to follow our latest advice.”

Follow these tips to keep your bicycles safe from thieves:

• Where possible, store your bicycles in your home.
• If this isn’t possible, ensure they are kept in a secure outbuilding such as an alarmed and locked shed or garage.
• Lock your bicycles to something immovable like a wall, the floor or a
• Double lock your bikes using two quality locks, at least one of which is a D-lock.
• Get your bikes security marked and registered at BikeRegister and Immobilise.
• Record the details of your bicycles including noting the frame number (normally found underneath the bike between the pedals or where the back wheel slots in), the BikeRegister number plus any other distinguishing features, and take a photo.