Figures reveal vast majority of bike thefts go unsolved

The overwhelming majority of bicycle thefts in Scotland go unsolved, new figures have shown.

Nearly 90 per cent of reports of a stolen pedal bike went without a culprit being found in the last year.

The figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives revealed there were 5,394 recorded crimes for bike thefts in the 10 months to January 31, the equivalent of 17 a day.

However, just 548 of these were recorded as “detected”, according to the Police Scotland data.

The number of thefts is on course to be significantly higher than 2016/17, when 5,424 incidents were reported for the entire year.

Shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said a new focus was required from the single force to improve clear-up rates of bicycle thefts.

There was also disparity in the solving rate across the country.

In Edinburgh, just one in every 23 cycle thefts were solved, compared to nearly 50 per cent in Fife.

Mr Kerr said: “The stealing of pedal bikes may not be the most serious crime to come across the desk of police each day.

“But it’s serious none-the-less, and to see the overwhelming majority go undetected is extremely worrying.

“It sends out a terrible message that, if you decide to nick someone else’s bike, the chances are you’ll get away with it.

“In places like Edinburgh, there’s almost a cast-iron guarantee the police won’t catch you.

“Bicycle owners deserve better. We’re supposed to be encouraging healthy living and getting more people on two wheels is a key way of doing that.”