A CYCLIST who had his brand new orange Pinnacle Lithium bike stolen was extremely grateful that he had it registered to the BikeRegister database, as it was recovered to him within a week.

Owner Dean Holliday, who had his bike marked at one of the many City of London police bike marking events, said: “I recently bought a new bike and it was fantastic. I had taken great care if it and always locked it up with a D-lock and cable. However, someone broke into my flat while I was away and stole it. They cut through the cable and carried away the frame and front wheel. I was absolutely gutted.”

Fortunately, Dean had registered his bike’s details to the BikeRegister
database (www.bikeregister.com) and when he reported the theft, he was able to give police the frame number and photos of the bike he had uploaded for free to the site.

A week later, Dean had a call from a police officer in North London. The
officer said they had arrested a man for possible domestic violence offences
and that he had been riding a bike at the time of his arrest. When the bike was cross-checked on the BikeRegister database, the frame number was found to match the one that Dean had reported stolen…

BikeRegister is used by all UK police forces, who are able to access the site and check the true owners of registered bikes via a secure police log-in 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Dean said: “It was found and all because I'd taken the time to report it properly and had access to all the right details because of my BikeRegister registration. The police were also able to trace me directly because of the database. I was thrilled and really grateful that City of London police had registered my bike for me.”

He added: “Don't let your bike be one of the hundreds that are sat in a police
station near you without any way to trace the owner. 

“My message to anyone would be firstly make sure your bike is locked properly with a D-lock - cables are just easy prey. You should also register all of your bike’s details including the frame number on BikeRegister, as the police really do check it.” 

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

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