The owner of a stolen Brompton bike, which was security marked and registered on Bikeregister.com by the Cycle Task Force, has been reunited with it this week.

The six gear Brompton cycle was stolen when the victim left it locked in Islington Green on 20 January this year.

However, The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Cycle Task Force, part of the Transport for London funded Safer Transport Command, marked the bike on 18 October 2011 after the owner visited one of their marking events they held at East Finchley Underground Station. The details of the bike were registered on Bikeregister.com, the preferred cycle register for the MPS.

Officers from the Cycle Task Force then searched an address in Newham on 18 May and found the stolen six-gear Brompton, along with another Brompton that was also reported stolen.

The six-gear Brompton had a chemical etching applied by the Cycle Task Force, which was checked on the Bikeregister.com database, providing details of the bike’s owner and allowing the Cycle Task Force to reunite them with the recovered bike.

The second Brompton was reported stolen from Aldwych on 20 March 2012.

A 43-year old woman was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and bailed to return to police in June.

Cycle Task Force Inspector Peter Salter, said: “The Cycle Task Force carry out regular bike security marking events across London and we are delighted that as a result, we are able to return a stolen bike to their rightful owner.

“This highlights how reporting crime to police and keeping information about items registered on property databases, up-to-date, assists police in restoring property to their rightful owners.

“We advise any cyclist to follow ‘the three R’s’ - record the details of their bike, register them onto the MPS preferred property database http://www.bikeregister.com and report any theft to the police. These are simple steps that all cyclists should take so that if their bike is stolen they stand a good chance of being reunited with it.

“Bike thieves should be aware that we will use the full powers of the law and range of tactics to track them down and bring them before the courts.”

Siwan Hayward, Deputy Director of Community Safety, Enforcement and Policing at Transport for London, said: “This is yet another positive result from the Cycle Task Force, who on a daily basis work extremely hard to minimise bike theft in the Capital, and demonstrates the importance of cyclists registering their bike details.

“With the Mayor’s cycling revolution leading to an increase in ridership in recent years, we will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that London remains a safe and secure place for cyclists to enjoy.”

Andrew Knights MD of Bikeregister said: “This recovery shows the importance of applying a permanent visible mark to a valuable bike and then registering that code along with the serial number and bike details on a secure Home Office-approved database such as BikeRegister that is regularly referred to and searched by the Police. A particular problem the Police have, which BikeRegister solves, is tracing a genuine owner when suspect stolen bikes are identified or recovered.”

He concluded: “We are very pleased that yet another bike has been returned to its rightful owner thanks to the successful partnership of the MPS Cycle Task Force working together with BikeRegister.”

For further press information and images contact: Angela Singleton, Press Officer for Selectamark. Mobile: +44 (0)7905 623 819. Email: [email protected]

For further information and images contact: Jodie Fisher, Marketing Executive for Selectamark.

Phone: +44 (0)1689 487829
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @bikeregister