Britain's Bike Theft Problem

John Palmer had his bike for seven hours before it was stolen. In fact, this was his second bike. The first was stolen too

He’s a student in Cambridge, one of Britain’s bike theft hotspots. In the area below, just a handful of streets, 359 bikes were stolen from 2023-2025. Not a single theft reported to the police resulted in a suspect being apprehended or sentenced.

“I had my first bike for about six months before it was stolen. The next term I came with a new bike, which my dad had fixed up for me. On the first evening of term I locked up the bike just off Kings Parade. The next morning it was gone. I’d only ridden the bike once.”

Bike theft is endemic in the UK. Though millions of pounds of equipment goes missing every year, it is one of the least solved crimes by the police.

From March 2023-25, 116,167 bike thefts were reported in this UK. This is a fraction of the total number of thefts taking place, because many (like John when his first bike was stolen) do not report the crime to the police.

Of those reported, 0.2% resulted in some action being taken against a suspect/offender.

“It pisses me off.” Said John. “You might as well say you’re going to investigate bike theft. It’s all a, charade—the police pretending they’ll do something.

What does the Data Say?

Here is a map of the UK’s bike theft, normalised by population. As expected, bike theft is a particular problem in dense urban areas, particularly in smaller cities like Cambridge where more people cycle.

Bike theft tends to ebb and flow depending on the season. In warmer months people cycle more and so the opportunities increase for thieves.

The police forces dealing with the most theft are: Metropolitan Police Service (32,320), Thames Valley Police (7,100), British Transport Police (5247. They often deal with reports from commuters who have their bikes stolen around train stations), Avon and Somerset Constabulary (4340) and West Midlands Police (4310). The rest of the forces are graphed below. 

Police advice to avoid bike theft is to double lock your bike, covering both the frame and the wheels. This is because thieves are less likely to carry multiple tools for each lock.

They also recommend registering the bike with the national registration database, so that in the highly unlikely event that the police recover it, they can trace it back to you.

Full advice is available at https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/keeping-vehicles-safe/how-safe-is-your-bike/