From the Community Safety Team, CDC

Property marking is one of many ways that residents can help the
police in reducing bicycle theft and ensuring your bike is locked when
leaving it and not leaving it insecure at home.

Chiltern District Council and South Bucks District Council are
encouraging residents to be more conscious of how secure their bikes
are and if they haven’t already, get them marked to reduce the risk of
theft. Whilst some bicycles are returned to their owners, most are never
seen again because they have no markings on them, or no recorded
details such as frame serial numbers and size, make, model, colour or
a picture.

Bike marking is a simple solution to this problem and means that the
police are more likely to identify the bike and return it to the owner: a
simple sticker with your postcode on, stuck to the inside of your bike
frame, will inform the police of ownership.

To support the National Bike Week Campaign, Chiltern & South Bucks Community Safety Team will be providing bicycle security marking labels to local residents. If you would like a bike label then please contact communitysafety@chiltern.gov.uk with ‘bike label’ in the subject line or call us on 01494 586535.

As well as marking your bike there are other ways of preventing and reducing the risk of bike theft:

• Keep your bike in a locked garage or shed, as more than half of bike thefts take place on the victims’ properties.
• Always lock your bike when you are leaving it, use a strong lock and secure it to a bike rack where possible; as thieves can lift bikes over signposts especially if the lock is loose.
• There are other ways to identify your bike, such as recording and registering it on www.immobilise.com or investing in an electronic tagging system.

For more information about National Bike Week visit www.bikeweek.org.uk
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