Bike thefts worth up to almost £110,000 have been reported across the north and north-east, with more than 200 incidents this year.
And the figures, obtained via Freedom of Information, show the AB24 postcode, which covers areas such as Seaton, Woodside and Old Aberdeen, recorded the highest amount of theft reports.
From January to May 31, 225 theft incidents were recorded around the north and north-east – and in some of the reports more than one bike was taken.
Majority of thefts in Aberdeen
Of the 225 reports, 155 were in Aberdeen, 19 in Aberdeenshire and 11 in Moray.
In the north 38 were in the Highlands, with one each in Orkney and Shetland. No bike thefts were recorded in the Western Isles.
Forty four of the bikes stolen in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray were recovered.
And six of the bikes taken in Highland, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands were recovered.
In the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland the thefts had a maximum value of £22,400.
While for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray the price tag climbed to £87,374 – giving a total of £109,774 for the north and north-east combined.
The value of 34 of the bikes taken is not known.
Postcodes with the most thefts
In Aberdeen city the AB24 postcode saw 47 thefts, while AB25, which includes Rosemount and George Street, saw 24 incidents.
Hilton/Woodside/Stockethill councillor Freddie John, whose ward falls within the AB24 postcode, said: “I am sorry to hear that the area that I represent has the highest level of bike thefts in the city.
“I feel for anyone that has had this happen to them as I am sure it will have had a major impact both emotionally and financially. I would recommend anyone that has had their bike stolen to get in touch with the police as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, AB10, which takes in the city centre, Garthdee and Ruthrieston, recorded 24. The neighbouring AB11 area, which includes Torry and Ferryhill, saw 21 incidents.
In the Highlands, Inverness recorded 29 thefts, with the IV2 postcode, which includes Inverness east, Culloden and Balloch, recording 15 thefts.
Last year saw rise in thefts
Last year 356 were recorded.
However, since 2016 thefts have fallen across the north and north-east – with a total of 827 recorded that year compared to 580 in 2020.
In Aberdeen there were 444 in 2016 and 356 last year.
Bike types most popular with thieves
Among the most common models of bikes stolen were Carrera and Trek. Carrera bikes can retail for upwards of £300 – in the north-east 47 models of this type were taken, while there were seven Carrera bikes taken in the Highlands.
Ten Trek models were also stolen in the north-east, with one in the Highlands. Meanwhile, there were 17 thefts of Specialized bikes. Twelve Apollo bikes were stolen and 10 incidences of Giant bikes being taken were also recorded.
Sergeant Jenni Taylor, from the North East Police Division, is part of Operation Armour which works to tackle bike theft. She said although more expensive bikes may be stolen to order most thefts tended to be opportunistic.
She said: “It can be any bike. We’ve noticed a couple of expensive E bikes and they are hard to trace. We’ve only recovered one of them. I imagine they are potentially being stolen to order.
“A lot of the time the other ones are really stolen to swap for drugs. It’s linked – there will be drugs warrants and bikes found at the addresses, or warrants to recover stolen bikes and drugs will be found at the addresses. It’s very closely linked to other acquisitive crime.”
How to keep your bike safe
As well as ensuring bikes are locked, Sgt Taylor emphasised the need not to skimp on the price of security.
She said: “Get a good lock. If you are paying a couple of hundred pounds on a bike you are looking to spend 10% of the value on a lock. Getting a £2 lock is not going to stop the thieves. A lot of these thieves go out tooled up with bolt cutters and things – it takes seconds to snip a lock of that price.
“So it’s getting a good substantial lock – which isn’t easy if people are using their bike to travel to work they don’t want to carry a hefty chain with them, but it’s one of the only ways to prevent it.”
And for those storing bikes within sheds and garages, she said it was important to not only make sure that those spaces had a decent lock on them too but to also lock the bike within them. Sgt Taylor said an example of this would be locking them to something else in the garage or to a bolt in the ground.
For those storing bikes outside flats, she said doorbells with cameras are a good tool to aid detection in the event of the bike being stolen.
She said: “If you are locking your bike outside your property on a railing or stairwell, having a Ring doorbell or that type which covers where your bike is, then at least it is covered by CCTV and the footage from them has been really helpful for us.”