{"id":175774,"date":"2025-06-11T13:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175774\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T13:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:37:11","slug":"its-not-something-we-should-advertise-as-secure-cycle-park-plagued-by-bike-theft-epidemic-with-cyclists-now-too-fearful-to-use-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175774\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s not something we should advertise as secure\u201d: Cycle park plagued by bike theft \u201cepidemic\u201d, with cyclists now too fearful to use it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cambridge\u2019s Park Street Cycle Park, once heralded as a groundbreaking secure facility, has come under fire after a string of thefts left cyclists fearful to leave their bikes there \u2014 many criticising the local authority\u2019s efforts to create safe parking spaces in the city which once again topped the rankings for cycle thefts in the UK<\/a> last year, with eight bikes stolen per 1,000 people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Omar Terywall, who runs a Facebook group<\/a> called \u2018Official Stolen Bikes in Cambridge\u2019, to provide cyclists a platform to share news about bike theft and hopefully retrieve them, said he has been \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the so-called secure Park Street facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is labelled as a secure facility, but when you walk in, there are only three security cameras. The position of these cameras is\u00a0completely obscured by pillars as well. It\u2019s not good enough,\u201d he told Cambridgeshire Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The group, and other local Facebook communities from Cambridge, are filled with pictures of stolen bikes shared by cyclists in a desperate bid to locate them. Last week, Terywall posted about two electric bikes that were stolen from Park Street Cycle Park, despite being secured with three additional locks.<\/p>\n

While one bike had since been recovered, the other remained missing, with the police involved in an investigation. However, Terywall said that cyclists have told him they do not want to park their bikes there anymore.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Cambridge tops list of UK cycle theft hotspots, new crime data analysis reveals \u2013 as large student population and cycling culture blamed for \u201cthriving\u201d bike theft environment<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AnAn Elephant cargo bike with basket parked against a Sheffield stand in Park Street cycle park, Cambridge (credit: Camcycle)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cPeople have told me they are uncomfortable with parking their bikes there. I think it\u2019s a trust issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the park, you have big slide-in doors that are supposed to be one of the good things there. I don\u2019t understand the rationale behind them because if I was a thief, I could pick up two bikes and take them through the door as it would just open automatically for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cameras are also not positioned in a good place. Both of those bike owners had three bike locks, so that was not a deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n

> “If it’s bike theft you need to expect to solve your own crimes”: Journalist tracks down stolen cargo bike after “overstretched”\u00a0police told him “that’s up to you”\u00a0and “we do not attend when it’s a block of flats”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

While he said there were no \u201cshort answers\u201d to fix the problem, Terywall suggested the use of loud sirens, alarms, and flashing lights triggered by sensors as a possible deterrent to potential thieves. \u201cThe cameras are only useful if people check them quickly enough,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"AA Ridgeback cycle with basket locked to a \u2018high-low\u2019 cycle parking stand in Park Street cycle park, Cambridge (credit: Camcycle)<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s advice to cyclists was triple-locking their bikes: \u201cIdeally, both wheels and the frame should be locked to a stand as tightly as possible when left, and marking bikes with a police-approved identification scheme, such as BikeRegister, can also deter theft and assist in recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it would appear that no number\u00a0of locks can prove to be enough to fend off the thieves. Laura Cavill, a Cambridge cyclist, commented on social media last week: \u201cSeems like they need to improve on the \u2018secure\u2019, given someone\u2019s triple locked bike was taken today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Beer also wrote: \u201cIt [Park Street Cycle Park] sounds great in principle, however, as there was a theft of a triple locked bike from there only last week, so I won\u2019t be risking it. Something needs to be done about this epidemic of bike thieves,\u201d while Jim Dennison added: \u201cI left my bike there once and someone stole my lights and tools off my bike so I never trusted it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

> Police force admits bike thefts “unlikely to ever be solved” after spoof sign pokes fun at station’s “Bicycle Redistribution Point”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Park Street Car Park was the UK\u2019s first secure cycle park, opened in 2002 by converting 24 car parking spots to 271 cycle spaces. In November 2024, it reopened after a major redesign and redevelopment, now featuring 222 car spaces (down from 450), 23 EV charging spaces, and 239 cycle spaces in the main area, plus 10 cargo spaces in a separate room.<\/p>\n

The facility included an automatic sliding door, shallow ramp access, widely spaced Sheffield stands and ground anchors in the cargo room. Camcycle said one of the main improvements from the original cycle park was how illuminated and spacious it had become.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, for many cyclists, these investments haven\u2019t been enough. Rob Izzard said: \u201cBack in the day, I\u2019d use this on weekdays and weekends \u2014 I loved it. Now? No chance. The chance of theft, even with CCTV and \u2018secure\u2019 doors, is too great.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil this problem, and especially the known thieves in and around Cambridge, are addressed, I\u2019m walking or on the bus\u2026 It\u2019s not something we should advertise as secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0“Theft has become legal”: Police close stolen bike case a day after it was taken from outside Scotland Yard HQ, despite CCTV cameras and tracker showing location<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u2018High-low\u2019\u2018High-low\u2019 cycle stands in Park Street cycle park, Cambridge (credit: Camcycle)<\/p>\n

The frustrations of cyclists in other UK cities were echoed by a parody sign in Chichester earlier this year, when an anonymous campaigner placed a \u201cBicycle Redistribution Point\u201d sign<\/a> at the city\u2019s railway station, mocking the lack of police action.<\/p>\n

The sign read: \u201cChichester Bicycle Redistribution Point. Many thanks for your donations,\u201d with police and Southern Rail logos and the note: \u201cPolice logo included for aesthetics only (they don\u2019t like getting involved).\u201d<\/p>\n

British Transport Police admitted bike thefts were \u201cunlikely to ever be solved\u201d and there was \u201climited opportunity for investigation\u201d in many cases. However, the sign\u2019s creator, known as CARP, told road.cc: \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the issue here is lack of action from Southern Rail and the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Cambridge, there have been occasional successes in tackling prolific offenders. In July 2022, Joshua Collinson-Prime was jailed for six months after being caught by off-duty officers<\/a> breaking the lock of a Pinnacle mountain bike in Fitzroy Street, Cambridge.<\/p>\n

More recently, John Bruce Miller was sentenced to seven months after being caught on CCTV<\/a> stealing a bike from Cambridge Station Cycle Park in November. Despite these convictions, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and campaigners acknowledged that most thefts went unsolved, with investigations hampered by limited resources and a high volume of cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cambridge\u2019s Park Street Cycle Park, once heralded as a groundbreaking secure facility, has come under fire after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-175774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114665006869640818","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}