THIS is a man police want to speak to in relation to the theft of three bikes from Hampshire train stations.

British Transport Police has also issued a warning to cyclists to protect their bikes after the incidents in which bikes totalling £1,500 were taken from Southampton Central and Fareham stations.

In all three incidents the owners cycled to the station first thing in the morning, secured their bikes in racks on the platform then headed to work.

 

But when they returned hours later they were gone.

This investigation into the thefts, which happened between June 23 and July 3, is part of a national crackdown on bicycle theft from stations called Operation Wiggins.

As part of this officers will be at Southampton Central station this week giving advice to passengers on how to look after their bikes.

Det Sgt Sarah White said: “Reducing the number of bikes stolen from railway stations is a major priority and BTP officers are working undercover at local stations to catch thieves in the act.

“There are also steps cyclists can take to reduce the risk of becoming the victim of theft, including bike frame marking and using a high-quality lock.”

British Transport Police advice includes: using more than one lock to secure your bike and ensure that you use a recognised security standard lock and that it is up to date; make the lock and bike hard to manoeuvre by putting little room between the stand and the bike and not to allow your lock to come into contact with the ground where it can be seen as more vulnerable.

Further advice is to take a photograph of your bike and record your frame number and any key details, which could be important in recovering it, mark your frame with your postcode in two separate locations, one of which hidden, attached a Coded Cycle label to make it less of a target, do not ride with valuables in open baskets and register your bicycle at immobilise.com or bikeregister.com.

Anyone with information or who can identify the man is asked to contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, or text 61016, quoting reference SSUB/B5 of 31/07/2014 or give information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.