Cunning thieves have been allegedly using a devious new trick to "mark" bicycles in Dublin.
Vanessa Greene, who works in the city centre, has warned cyclists to be cautious while locking up their two-wheelers. Vanessa told Dublin Live how she found an unlocked bike next to hers on Dean Street on Thursday.
She said: "Typically what they do is they leave a reasonably-priced bike left beside your bike to mark it up. Then someone comes along and takes the cheaper bike away with them but they’ve also some tools with them to take parts off yours."
Read more: Woman's warning after thieves try to steal car by hacking into system
Vanessa said that these types of thefts usually happen every two months but there are places where bikes are stolen nearly once a week. She added that moving the unlocked bike gives your bike a "better chance of surviving".
She said: "That’s going off past experiences. I never leave my bike out of my sight.
"I also move my bike around quite frequently to keep it safe." Vanessa's biggest advice to people is to use more than one lock while securing their bikes.
She said: "Definitely don’t just string something through the tube and walk away. If you can get one of the string locks, do both of your wheels.
"Lock as much as you can. If anything has a gap that a lock can go through, do it."
Dublin Live has contacted the gardai for a comment on the matter.
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