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8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has welcomed the Bank of England's decision to reduce interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%, calling it a "much-needed boost" for the retail sector, including for cycling...

8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has responded to the news that the 144-year-old Beales department store is staging a "Rachel Reeves Closing Down Sale" in its final weeks of trading, with giant yellow...

2 May 2025

Could the UK cycling industry be showing signs of renewed momentum? Following a challenging period marked by falling sales and overstocked inventories, overall trends and sales figures from...

2 May 2025

The Netherlands is set to legalise electric scooters and other light electric vehicles on public roads from July 2025, provided they are registered and display a license plate.

30 Apr 2025

The ACT has welcomed the announcement of a parliamentary inquiry into e-bike products not meeting safety regulations, which has been launched “in context of dangerous low-quality e-bike...

29 Apr 2025

Edinburgh has been named the UK’s top city for bike commuting, with 10.00% of its workforce choosing to cycle to work, according to new research.

28 Apr 2025

The Labour Government’s new Employment Rights Bill is set to be in force this year and the new regulations will impact high street retailers up and down the country.

25 Apr 2025

ACT parent company Bira welcomes the Chancellor's announcement of plans to create a level playing field for British businesses against unfair international trade practices.

15 Apr 2025

Retail Crime Remains Alarming - Bira's Latest Survey Reveals Urgent Need for Action

11 Apr 2025

Bira has cautiously welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement this week on plans to put 'thousands of Bobbies back on the Beat' with a new neighbourhood policing guarantee.

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Bike shop owner slams police’s “abject apathy” after three shops broken into in one night

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

A cycle shop owner has criticised the police’s “abject apathy” towards bike theft after thieves attempted to break into his store for the second time in a year, on the same night two other bike shops and a private residence were also targeted.

police car

In one night, at least 17 bikes and other items were stolen during the series of raids which took place across Sussex.

At the Giant store in Shoreham, six men in balaclavas were spotted by local residents – who took videos of the burglary – breaking into the shop and stealing 14 high-end e-mountain bikes.

A private home was also burgled, with the thieves making off with, among other things, two Kinesis bikes and a Canyon gravel bike.

The thieves were thwarted, however, while trying to access South Downs Bikes, when a neighbour disturbed them interfering with the shop’s front door lock, causing them to scarper in a black BMW.

The failed Saturday raid is the second time in a year that South Downs Bikes has been the subject of a break-in, after three e-bikes were taken when a thief broke the shop’s office window with a brick.

And after none of the perpetrators were found in the wake of the first burglary, the Storrington shop’s director, Martin Richardson, isn’t convinced of Sussex Police’s ability to deal with what he refers to as a bike shop break-in “epidemic”.

 “It seems like it’s spreading from one shop to the next. It’s like an epidemic,” Richardson told road.cc.

“We had a break-in about 12 months ago. A guy chucked a brick through the office window and stole three e-bikes. They put them in their van and realised that the bikes from an earlier break-in weren’t of the same quality as ours, so they dumped the seven bikes in one of our neighbours’ gardens!”

Referring to Saturday’s spate of break-ins, the South Downs Bikes director said: “I was speaking to the manager of the Giant shop in Shoreham, and residents took videos of these six guys in balaclavas, entering and exiting the shop with multiple e-bikes.

“We were able to capture an image of the one of the individuals who drove up in a black BMW and disabled the CCTV at the front of the shop externally. And we watched him on the CCTV take a little tool out of his pocket and get the lock off the door in a matter of 30 seconds!

“When we were broken into last time, the police officers eventually turned up and said ‘right, we’ve made a note of this, we’ll send you a crime number by email, and that’s the last you’ll see of us’. And we never heard anything whatsoever. They don’t give a damn, do they?”

“This time, I’ve only been talking to the Sussex Police by email. The response, as usual, is lukewarm. I obviously contacted them initially on their 101 and have now received the perfunctory crime number relating to the attempted break-in.

“I get the impression that provided you get a crime number and contact your insurance company, that’s the end of the matter as far as our wonderful police force is concerned. That’s why we securitise ourselves in such a way, because the police aren’t going to do anything. Abject apathy comes to mind.”

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