Residents who store their bicycles in a bike hangar on a street in Fitzrovia have been locked out and unable to access their cycles due to damage to a lock by thieves over the Easter weekend.
In an email to Falco, the company who runs the bike hangars on behalf of Camden Council, the chair of the residents association of the housing block where the hanger is located has written on behalf of a resident asking for assistance and how to improve its security.
“Some-one has physically cut into the Bike Hangar lock (probably with an angle grinder or similar) and has jammed the lock. As a result, one of our residents and others cannot access their bikes,” states the email seen by Fitzrovia News.
The damage and attempted break-in has been reported to the police and a request for patrols to be stepped up has been made.
The chair of the residents association has asked Falco to deal with it urgently as the residents cannot access their bikes which are now at greater risk of being stolen if and when the thieves return to finish the job.
“We are very concerned that who ever made the attempted break-in, might try again and be successful in stealing the bikes in the hangar,” states the email.
It is believed the attempted theft took place on the evening of Saturday 3 April.
Falco told Fitzrovia News that they are “working very hard to counteract thefts and damage to bikehangers” and are investigating ways of retrofitting a shroud to protect the locks.
Cycle theft in London is rife and even more so due to the pandemic and demand for cycles. London Cycling Campaign advises all cyclists to secure their cycle with two strong locks, and to have your cycle security marked with Bike Register which is free, and to remove all lights and accessories from your cycle when you leave it.
Even if you your bike is stored in a bike hangar you should still use two heavy locks to secure the frame and wheels to the structure of the rack inside the hangar. In practice this means spending about £50 or more on each lock.