Successful bike marking event in Crawley for cyclists

Local cyclists were given the opportunity to safeguard their bikes and get general bike security advice last Saturday in Crawley at a successful bike marking event funded by the Safer Crawley Partnership, Sussex Police, Crawley Town Centre BID and, Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch.

Sussex Police were in Memorial Gardens to security mark bikes and register them on ‘BikeRegister’, the national cycle database that deters cycle thieves and reunites stolen bikes with their owners. This event was the first in a series of bike marking events to be held throughout the year.

Councillor Sue Mullins, Chair of the Safer Crawley Partnership, said: “The Safer Crawley Partnership is proud to be supporting the bike marking events and it was great to see such engagement at Saturday’s event. We understand that bike theft is an issue across Crawley and hope that many more local cyclists will take advantage of this initiative at future events later in the year.”

Sergeant Anthony Bentham of the Crawley Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We are delighted to support this scheme, which we hope will encourage cyclists to come forward and get their bikes marked. This can not only act as a deterrent to thieves, it can also increase the chances of having your bike returned to you in the event it is stolen and recovered by police.“Bike theft continues to happen across the county and it is important that victims and witnesses report any incidents to us, to enable us to build up intelligence to prevent, detect and respond to these offences.”

Wendy Bell, BID Manager, commented: “We are very pleased to be supporting this initiative. The loss of a persons’ bike may seem like a minor inconvenience, but for the bike owner it can cause many issues from simply being able to get to work to finding funds to replace their transport. We hope that these events will help prevent and discourage bike theft, but when they do occur that the bikes are recovered and returned to their owners speedily.”

Paul Dowling, Manager, Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch (CGBW) added: “Whilst our main focus is on the prevention of business crime and anti-social behaviour across Crawley, we recognise that bike theft is ongoing and can be distressing to the victim and families. In supporting the bike marking scheme, we hope that this will go towards deterring such acts and help return a stolen bike to the rightful owner.”

You can read more about how to protect your bike from theft here: https://www.sussex.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/keeping-vehicles-safe/how-safe-is-your-bike.