A Dublin woman was left stunned recently after parking her bike outside a busy supermarket - and coming back to find that both the wheels had been stolen.
Cyclist Claire told Dublin Live that she had locked up her bike on the bike rack and popped into the Lidl on Thomas Street in Dublin 8.
But after leaving the shop, Claire and another biker discovered that both bikes were missing parts, with Claire's bike missing two wheels.
She said: "We had both popped into Lidl and came out the same time to discover our wheel-less bikes. I reported it to the gardai at Kevin Street that day, it was very frustrating and expensive.
"I was kicking myself lugging the frame and my shopping home."
According to gardai, a total of 6,845 bicycles have been reported stolen since January 2020 and 23 April, 2021.
The average value of the stolen bicycles is €500 while 10% of the bikes were worth €1,000 or more.
More than 70% of the bicycles were reported stolen in the Dublin Metropolitan Region for a total of 4,825 bikes.
An Garda Siochana have issued advice to bike owners to make sure they lock their bikes with a strong lock and to if possible lock your bike indoors or in a well -lit area.
Only one in five bike owners were able to provide their bicycle frame / serial number to Gardaí when they reported their bike as stolen.
Crime prevention advice:
- Spend 10% to 20% of the value of your bike of two locks.
- Lock your bike tightly to an immovable object.
- Keep the lock off the ground.
- Take a photo of your bike, note the serial number and email it back to yourself so you have a record of it forever.
- Lock your bike indoors or in well-lit areas if possible.
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