Avon and Somerset Police offers bike security marking at Weston Bike Night

On Thursday 1 August, officers from Avon and Somerset Police will be offering free bike security marking at Weston Bike Night as part of efforts to crack down on bicycle theft in the area. We will be located on the beach lawns opposite Grand Atlantic Hotel from 6pm onwards.

Our bike marking security scheme started as a single unit and has now been rolled out force-wide, and with over 1,000 bikes being marked every month, is one of the largest in the country. The initiative aims to encourage bike owners to consider the security of their bikes by getting them visibly security marked and registered to deter thieves from stealing them.

The success of our scheme was recognised at the fifth National Cycle Crime Conference, in Birmingham in June 2019, where we were awarded for the expansion of our cycle crime prevention efforts and for running best practice marking event. The awards were hosted by BikeRegister, the national cycle database, in association with British Transport Police (BTP).

PC Gina Knight from Nailsea Police Station comments:

“Our force is leading the way in preventing bike theft thanks to the bike marking security scheme, which is helping us return stolen bikes to their owners. The initiative is available to anyone who owns a bike and is completely free of charge. Those interested in getting their bikes marked and registered can easily sign up to the scheme online, or come and talk to our neighbourhood policing teams at one of our bike marking stalls that are regularly set up in local communities.

“The scheme has proven to be extremely successful and has been key in deterring thieves from stealing bicycles. We encourage any bike owners to come and talk to us about how they can keep them safe and to get their bikes registered as soon as they can”.

A representative from SelectaMark, a leading security marking company, will also be onsite offering a covert marking system for motorbikes at a reduced cost. For every product purchased from SelectaMark, the buyer will be given a free top quality bike security chain.