British Transport Police says it will not investigate bike thefts at train stations where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours.
This means most bike thefts will not be investigated, and CCTV footage will not be reviewed after the two-hour timeframe, according to the BBC.
“The more time our officers spend reviewing CCTV… the less time they have available for patrolling railway stations and trains, investigating crimes which cause the most harm,” the BTP said.
- Read more: What to do if your bike is stolen
In a list of crimes the BTP won’t investigate, it said any bike worth less than £200 will not be investigated. The BTP also said thefts on trains should only be reported if the passenger knows the carriage the bike was in.
A BTP spokesperson told the BBC that it knows bike thefts are upsetting, inconvenient and potentially costly, but “there can often be limited opportunity for investigation”.
The spokesperson said: “Our experience tells us at an early stage that there are some crimes that are unlikely to ever be solved – such as those without a clear estimate of time or location for the incident or if there is a lack of CCTV or witnesses.
“The more time our officers spend reviewing CCTV footage for these offences, the less time they have available for patrolling railway stations and trains, investigating crimes which cause the most harm and providing a visible presence across the network.
“We will continue to apply a test of proportionality when determining investigation – looking at factors such as timeframes, witnesses, the availability of CCTV, the impact on the victim or whether there is a realistic prospect of a successful outcome.
“Any offence which is not investigated will still provide us with valuable intelligence, used to direct our patrols and operations.”
More than 14,000 bicycles were stolen from outside train stations between 2021 and 2023. The number of bikes reported stolen from outside stations was up 39 per cent from 2022 to 2023.
The London Cycling Campaign’s Tom Fyans told the BBC: “A lack of secure cycle parking at stations and next to no action against thieves leaves London way behind the Netherlands where nearly half of trips to stations are by bike.
“Many victims of theft in the capital just stop cycling – if we want to reduce car trips in London and encourage cycling we have to redouble enforcement against cycle theft.”
Sophie Gordon, campaigns manager at Cycling UK, said: “The decision not to investigate bike theft when cycles have been left for longer than two hours will hit the lowest income groups the hardest. These are often working people who might not be able to afford a car and are relying on bikes and public transport to get to work. If you’re on shift or at work, you will inevitably be away longer than a couple of hours.
“Bike theft is not a petty crime but has serious social consequences and the police need to take it seriously – to have your means of getting around stolen can be devastating. By partnering with cycle trade, planners and other groups, the police could find ways to prevent cycle theft, seeing as that’s more effective than enforcement, but it’s not acceptable for the police to say they will be doing less to investigate theft, when they should be doing more. Otherwise it starts to feel like people should ‘See it. Say it. Sort it yourself.”
