Bike Register

A new scheme set up to help protect second-hand bike retailers from the risk of handling stolen goods.

More than half of all bike thefts take place from an owner's property and bike thieves are becoming increasingly more organised. The ease with which a stolen bike can be sold continues to encourage the theft of bikes.

However, retailers and members of the public can now use the BikeChecker facility on the BikeRegister website to check the origin of second-hand bikes being offered to them for sale.

Chief Superintendent Sultan Taylor said: "We want retailers and buyers of second hand bikes to be assured that they have taken part in a legitimate sale and that the bikes are not stolen.

"I urge all second hand Cycle Retailers to ensure that they check bikes with Bike Register before purchase to verify legitimacy of sales. Should they discover that the bikes are stolen they should report it immediately to police."

Use of the Bike Checker facility is also recommended in Bike Register's new code of practice for the purchase and sale of second-hand bikes.

Bike Register is used by every UK Police force to help them reunite some of the thousands of lost or stolen bikes they recover every year to their legal owners. The system is also designed to prevent bike theft in the first instance via the use of a visible etching deters thieves.

The new code aims to help control the trade in second-hand cycles and to make it more difficult for criminals to dispose of stolen property through the retail network.

It also outlines minimum criteria necessary for the identification, purchase and sale of second-hand bikes and supplies information on what actions should be taken when a cycle is identified as not being in the possession of its lawful owner.