KU plans scheme to stop bike theft

Kingston University is planning to introduce a bike register scheme in order to prevent bike theft.

Bicycles are more likely to be stolen in Kingston than in many areas of London, according to new statistics by the Home Office.

Kingston has a rate of 4.1 bike offences per 1,000 people, while in London the ratio is 2.4 per 1,000 people.

A Kingston University spokesperson said: “Kingston is an extremely safe place in which to live and study and is one of the safest boroughs in London, according to the Metropolitan Police. The University takes the personal safety of its students and staff very seriously, working closely with the police to provide guidance on how to keep safe on campus and in the local area.

“There are plans to introduce a bike register scheme to act as a deterrent to potential thieves. This will also increase the chance of returning stolen bikes to their owners.

“In the past year, out of the more than 1,200 cycles that regularly use the University’s campuses and halls of residences, there have been 15 stolen.”

The statistics show that 714 bicycles were stolen from Kingston, between December 2017 and November 2018.

Alberto Padilla, a third-year chemistry student, 28, said: “My bike was stolen in Kingston Bridge House, from inside the bicycle safe where a camera was supposed to work and only Kingston students living in the accommodation could get in.

“As it was clearly proven by the police to me, it is almost better to steal a bike in a minute than buy one because when you are on the bike after you steal it, it is already practically yours, almost by the law, because no one can prove it isn’t.”

Cycle Kingston, a website full of information for cycling enthusiasts, offers advice on how to keep bicycles safe, by following “the Three R’s”: record, register, report.

If a bike is stolen, a record of its frame number and marks should be kept.

The next step is to register the bike’s details to an online property database such as bikeregister.com and lastly, report the stolen bike to the police