Bikes belonging to commuters are among those to benefit from a crime prevention initiative in Harrow town centre using Bikeregister permanent marking kits.

Funded by Harrow Police, the theft deterrent campaign is being launched on Wednesday, 23rd March with a free bike marking event at The Cube, St Ann\‘s Road, Harrow Town Centre, from 10am-2pm.

Residents including shoppers and commuters who use the local train station, are invited to come along and have their bikes marked free of charge by police officers from Harrow Town Team. It will also be possible to get mobile phones marked.

Bikeregister is owned and maintained by security company Selectamark and aims to reduce bicycle theft and assist in owner recovery. Bikes are permanently and visibly marked with a unique ID code to prove ownership and placed on the secure database (http://www.bikeregister.com) for the lifetime of the bike.

If a bike is stolen and then recovered, police can check the marking and log onto the database to quickly verify the true owner and reunite them with their bike. As part of the scheme, each bike owner is issued with a personal logbook as proof of ownership.

PCSO Diane Harris from Harrow Town Team said: “Harrow has not been a major target for bike thieves but we have had some problems with theft of commuter bikes from train stations. By introducing this new Bikeregister initiative we aim to clamp down decisively on that type of crime.

“We also want to appeal to people who are shopping in the town centre to make sure that they get their bikes marked too. If a bike is visibly marked it is an immediate deterrent to a thief, while at the same time making it easily traceable if it does go missing.”

The Harrow Bikeregister initiative is ongoing and local officers have a series of bike marking events planned throughout the year.  
PCSO Harris concluded: “We are determined to reduce bike theft in Harrow and these bike marking events are the key to that aim.

“We have another event planned that includes representatives from the London Cycling Campaign. Our officers will be marking bikes, while the LCC checks them to make sure they are safe to be on the road.”

For more press information and images, contact: Angela Singleton, Selectamark Press Officer. Mobile: 07905 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