Low level of reported bike thefts in county

EIGHTY-NINE bikes were reported stolen in Wexford over a two and a half year period.

The figures, released by An Garda Siochana last Thursday, show that Wexford is one of the least affected counties when it comes to reported bicycle thefts.

Launching their ‘Lock it or Lose it’ campaign last week, gardai appealed to cyclists to take extra precautions in keeping their bicycles safe by locking them in the most secure way possible.

The new figures show that nationally over 14,000 bikes were stolen between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018

Dublin was worst hit with a total of 9,918, followed by Cork (683); Limerick (646); Galway (506); Kildare (368); Louth (280); Waterford (255); Wicklow (215); Carlow/Kilkenny (197) and Meath (174). Donegal had the least amount of thefts with just 31 bicycles taken.

The average cost of a bike stolen is around €510 and the most common time for a bike to be stolen is between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., with Friday being statistically the most common day for bikes to be stolen.

At the ‘Lock it or Lose it’ launch, Gardai offered a few simple tips to make life difficult for the thieves: spending 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the value of the bike on two locks, locking your bike tightly to an immovable object and keeping the lock off the ground.