out-of-ten bike thefts are unsolved, say Liberal Democrats

Bike thieves are acting with impunity as police forces fail to address the crime, the Liberal Democrats warn.

Analysis of Home Office statistics commissioned by the political party has revealed that in 2022, 65,809 bike theft cases across England and Wales were closed without a suspect being identified. This meant 89% of total reported cases are unsolved.

The Home Office figures show only 1,245 bike thefts reported last year resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed, just 1.7% of the total 73,979 cases recorded.

Nine police forces across England and Wales saw over 9 in 10 (90%) of bike thefts go unsolved. The worst performing areas with the highest number of unsolved bike thefts were Sussex (95.8%), the Metropolitan Police (93.7%), the West Midlands (93.2%) and Hampshire (92.8).

The Liberal Democrats warned these figures showed the government are effectively ‘decriminalising’ bike theft, letting criminals off the hook for the robbery of thousands of pounds worth of property.

The LibDems accuse the Conservative government of neglecting neighbourhood policing. They also say police community support officer (PCSO) numbers have plummeted under the Conservative Party’s watch, with over 4,000 PCSOs being taken off the streets since 2015. The Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible and trusted, with the time to focus on tackling local crime.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, who commissioned the research, said: “Theft is such a personal and terrible crime. To see so many go unsolved across our communities is a tragedy. These figures show the government is effectively decriminalising bike theft in our local communities, and ministers in Westminster seem content to let it continue. We need to see a return to proper community policing, making our streets safer and ending this free-for-all for criminals.”

Entire car park ticketed by mistake

Buckinghamshire Council has apologised after penalty notices were issued to a car park full of vehicles.

A sign had been posted stating the Duke Street car park was closed for relining, but the car park filled up, leading to PCNs being issued en masse on 17 May.

The council admitted that car park was in fact only set to be partially closed and the penalties should not have been issued. It will cancel the enforcement notices.

Steven Broadbent, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “We want to apologise to the people who parked at Railway Place and Duke Street car parks in High Wycombe and who received parking tickets during a closure of the car park.

“Whilst we do enforce parking across the county, these tickets should not have been issued and we will be reversing the parking tickets to everyone who received them.

“Only a small number of parking bays should have been closed to install the brand new EV charging bays rather than the whole car park and we did not give our customers enough notice of this action.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience and upset caused. Anyone who has been ticketed should take no further action as the notices will be cancelled, and anyone who has already paid the PCN charge will be refunded.”