Information on Loughborough

Bike Tags Free in Charnwood

Posted on 06/05/2009

People living in Charnwood are being offered free electronic tagging devices which will be available at Loughborough Market Place on Wednesday 13 May and Wednesday 3 June at the Community Safety Partnership Stand.

They will also be available to Loughborough University students from the Security Section on the University campus.

Crime analysis shows that areas with a high student population have higher incidents of bike theft than other areas. This has a serious impact on the lives of students, many of whom rely on their bikes for transport. The cost of replacing a bike, particularly if it is not insured, can also be prohibitively high. In the last year, 465 bicycles have been reported stolen across the Loughborough policing area and twenty people have appeared in court and been convicted of bike theft.

The electronic tag is inserted into the frame of the bike and cannot be removed. Each tag has a unique serial number and details of this number, and the registered owner, are held on a national database. The tag can be read by portable readers which are kept by the police. A warning label is displayed on the bike frame.

Inspector Tim McCabe, Commander of Loughborough Local Policing Unit, said;