Car and bike theft outside stations WON’T be investigated by police

The theft of bikes and cars outside train stations will not be investigated by police if the crime occurred more than two hours ago.

The British Transport Police (BTP) has claimed there is ‘often a limited opportunity to investigate’ the thefts and check CCTV.

Across the UK, thousands of commuters drive or cycle to their local train station every day where they leave their vehicles in park and ride facilities before travelling to work. 

Some unfortunate Brits will return after a long working day to discover their car or bike has been stolen. 

But if the theft is reported to the British Transport Police, and it occurred after the vehicle had been left outside the station for more than two hours, the force will not investigate the crime.

According to the British Transport Police, the policy gives the forces more time to patrol stations and trains and to investigate the crimes which cause ‘the most harm’.

However one commuter who had his bicycle stolen has claimed that the policy has effectively ‘decriminalised bike theft’.

Simon Feldman, 39, had a bike stolen from outside Watford Junction station and then another attempt was made to steal his second bike more recently.

He immediately reported the theft to the BTP who told him they would not investigate the theft because the bike had been left unattended for 10 hours.

This was despite the bike also having been left close to a cctv camera.

‘I was pretty shocked because what it’s doing effectively is decriminalising bike theft and I realised how many people are being affected by this,’ Mr Feldman said.

The signaller who works for London Underground added that ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds are being thrown into secure bike parking and it isn’t secure’ and that because footage is ‘never watched’ and ‘never monitored’ thieves are now emboldened to steal bikes in broad daylight.

Mr Feldman does admit that it is ‘tough’ to find a solution to the crimes.

He said: ‘The answer is a tough one. British Transport Police should look into these crimes but there are so few of them these days, maybe it’s time British Transport Police said ‘we can’t do these any more’  and hand it over to the local police.’ 

Since his bike was stolen, Mr Feldman has started a petition calling on the BTP to scrap its two hour bike theft policy.  

Other crimes the BTP will not investigate include thefts on trains if the passengers does not know the exact carriage number and any bike worth less than £200 will not be investigated at all.

On top of this, damage to cars worth less than £300 and taking place on a vehicle parked up for longer than two hours will not be investigated.

Speaking to the BBC, Tom Fyans from the London Cycling Campaign said: ‘A lack of secure cycle parking at stations and next to no action against thieves leaves London way behind the Netherlands where nearly half of trips to stations are by bike,’ he said.

‘Many victims of theft in the capital just stop cycling – if we want to reduce car trips in London and encourage cycling we have to redouble enforcement against cycle theft.’

In a statement the BTP told the Daily Mail: ‘Whilst we know that bike thefts are upsetting, inconvenient and potentially costly, there can often be limited opportunity for investigation.

‘Our experience tells us at an early stage that there are some crimes that are unlikely to ever be solved – such as those without a clear estimate of time or location for the incident or if there is a lack of CCTV or witnesses.

‘The more time our officers spend reviewing CCTV footage for these offences, the less time they have available for patrolling railway stations and trains, investigating crimes which cause the most harm and providing a visible presence across the network.

‘We will continue to apply a test of proportionality when determining investigation – looking at factors such as timeframes, witnesses, the availability of CCTV, the impact on the victim or whether there is a realistic prospect of a successful outcome.

‘Any offence which is not investigated will still provide us with valuable intelligence, used to direct our patrols and operations.’