Officers from Northamptonshire Police recently set up a bike surgery and crime prevention initiative at a local specialist sports college.

Northampton North Safer Community Team (SCT) in partnership with Northampton Borough Council used an open day event at Kingsthorpe College to launch the initiative, which involves securely marking student bikes with BikeRegister bike marking kits.

Local police were looking for a solution to the problem of student bike theft, following a spate of cycle thefts from the college. Sergeant Martin O’Connell from the Northampton North SCT said: “Once a bike has been marked, the details of the bike and the owner will be registered on the BikeRegister database.

“If the bike was ever stolen and then recovered, we would hopefully be able to return it to the rightful owner. The kit also includes robust stickers which warn thieves that the bike is security-marked.”

Sgt O’Connell continued: “We will only be marking road-worthy bikes and encouraging any students with unsafe bikes to get them upgraded. We will be repeating the initiative at a later date for those who are unable to make it on the day.”

Councillor Brandon Eldred, Northampton Borough Council’s cabinet member for community engagement, supports the initiative at the college. He said: “Cycling is a great way to get around the town. It is economical, green, healthy and the first taste of freedom and independence many of us experience. Unfortunately bikes can also be attractive to thieves.

“Getting your bike marked is a quick and easy way of making it more secure. A marked bike will be less attractive to thieves as it will be harder to sell on and can be easily traced back to you when the Police recover it.”

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