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British Transport Police admit Farnborough Main railway station is a cycle theft hotspot

Locked bikes being stolen from racks despite CCTV and regular patrols

Inspector Mick Morriss, who oversees British Transport Police’s operations in Farnborough, has identified the Farnborough Main railway station as being a top priority when it comes to tackling cycle theft. However, local commuter, Peter Taylor, says that more security measures need to be taken after his bike was stolen

Taylor had chained and padlocked his bike to Farnborough Main’s bike rack, but when he returned in the evening, it had gone. Speaking to Get Hampshire, the 64-year-old Farnborough resident said:

“My first reaction was to go to the ticket office to report the problem. The person there rolled their eyes as if to say ‘not another stolen bike’. I also reported it to the police, but I know they are not going to get it back.”

Inspector Morriss said that British Transport Police were aware that the station had a problem and that efforts were being made to address this:

“Whenever we receive a report of a theft, we employ a number of steps to identify the person responsible, obtaining images of suspects from CCTV at the station, before circulating them on intelligence systems and to neighbourhood policing teams.

“We are putting additional patrols in place at the station in order to tackle cycle crime, as well as holding cycle surgeries where passengers can have their bikes security marked for free.”

Taylor, however, feels that not enough is being done.

“I know the station is a hotspot for bike theft, there are signs up warning cyclists. That is all well and good and everybody is responsible for locking up their own bikes but the people who steal these bikes are not amateurs, they are not opportune thieves, they are well organised and know when the police patrols have gone.”

Farnborough Main underwent £2.8m renovations earlier this year and the bike racks were replaced, but while Morriss urges people to secure their bikes in them, Taylor doesn’t see why cyclists can’t make use of the station’s secure compound.

“A small fortune was spent on improving the car parks at Fleet and Farnborough railway stations. The old bike racks were ripped out and replaced with shiny new ones, but nothing was done to improve the security there.

“There is a secure compound at Farnborough Main but no one had the imagination to perhaps extend that for cyclists to use.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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4 comments

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a.jumper | 9 years ago
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Sadly all stations are theft hotspots, thanks to the negligence of BTP, the handy car parks where vans can pull up to load in stolen bikes and generally poor CCTV near the bike racks. If you're using a town centre station and can spare the five minutes, it's best to lock the bike somewhere else and walk to the station... or take it on the train if the operator allows. The operators seem to hate that but if they want to change it then they need to get a grip on bike rack security because I don't want to risk a ten mile walk at the end of my journey!

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Shades | 9 years ago
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If I walked along any average station cycle rack I reckon the majority of bikes would struggle to score 5/10 on being locked up securely (based on the standard advice of a main lock (shackle or chain - pref gold rated), secondary (cable) lock and wheels secured).

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brooksby replied to Shades | 9 years ago
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Shades wrote:

If I walked along any average station cycle rack I reckon the majority of bikes would struggle to score 5/10 on being locked up securely (based on the standard advice of a main lock (shackle or chain - pref gold rated), secondary (cable) lock and wheels secured).

Oo-oo-oo! Victim blaming  3  3  3

Seriously, though, a surprisingly large number of people really don't seem to think about bike security, and think that having a lock of some kind (a £4.99 cable lock from the corner shop, for example) will be better than nothing. Which it is, but not much.

On a related topic, I find that supermarkets are a right pain for security too.

My local large supermarket has bike racks which have three isosceles triangles mounted onto a rectangular frame base, which is then bolted to the ground.

I have now TWICE reported the fact that on two of the sets-of-racks (six racks, then), three of the four bolts holding it down are actually missing. The fourth, on both racks, is just loose. They take a note, and do nothing about it. And don't get me started on them deciding that next to the bike racks was a great place to put a concession stand/cabin for a well known locksmiths...

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freespirit1 | 9 years ago
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BTP aren't interested. I had a motorcycle vandalised at Woking.

Six years later still waiting for a response.

Went to dealers in Farnborough, 4 people in front of me replacing crash helmets that had been attached to vehicles because some arsewipe had pissed in them.

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