Bikes that have been lost or stolen and recovered by police are being re-introduced to the community following an innovative scheme by Cheshire Constabulary, which also involves the use of BikeRegister marking kits.

The unclaimed bikes, which were previously held in a police store, are now being passed on to a community centre in Latchford, Warrington, where local youths are taught the skills to repair or rebuild them. The bikes are then sold on to members of the public at a greatly reduced price.

However, before the bikes leave the community centre with their new owner they are permanently marked using a BikeRegister kit from Selectamark.

BikeRegister uses a permanent and visible chemical solution containing microdots that is applied to the bike frame to form a unique personal code. A security sticker is then stuck on each bike to show that it is security marked.

The details of the owner of the bike along with their address and postcode are then registered on bikeregister.com, a secure on-line database. If the bike is ever lost or stolen in future, it can be easily traced back to the owner.

The scheme is being funded by the Neighbourhood Action Team at Warrington and is being run by PCSOs James Butterworth and Stephen Blake.

PCSO Butterworth said: “This ongoing scheme is a true community project involving local youths who are being given the chance to gain some work experience.

“It is also making good use of unclaimed bikes that would otherwise be gathering dust, and also benefiting the local community who have been pleased to be able to purchase recycled bikes at a very reasonable rate. Adult bikes are just £10 and children’s bikes £5.”

He continued: “I have been overseeing this scheme and helping with the bike marking side of things, but our aim is that the youths at the community centre are able to carry out the whole repair and bike marking process themselves. The marking takes a few minutes to do and they will be taught how to complete the simple registration process.

“We think this is a very worthwhile scheme with the potential to benefit many members of the Latchford community.”

For further press information and images contact: Angela Singleton, Press Officer for Selectamark. 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