BIKE HIRE STATION SUSPENDED AFTER THEFT OF BICYCLES

BIKE rental company n e x t b i k e h a s t e m p o r a r i l y removed its service in Govan after vandalism and theft incidents.

The company, which has bike rental stations positioned throughout the city, said it is “deeply disappointed” to suspend the service at Govan Cross.

It also says that the incident is the first time that it has had to suspend a station since nextbike was introduced into Glasgow in 2014.

Krysia Solheim, nextbike managing director, said: “We’ve had to suspend the Govan nextbike station due to significant vandalism and threats of violence towards our staff.

“This is the first time a station has been suspended since the service started in 2014 and we’re deeply disappointed to have been put in this situation.”

Neil Brown, a frequent user of the service’s Govan station, said: “It’s really sad to see that the station has been suspended due to a few mindless people.

“It helped me to get more active during lockdown and I was able to get further than normal because I don’t have a car.

“I hope that the station is able to open again soon because I’ve missed being able to use it.”

Nextbike also said that it feared staff, who had been send to service the Govan Cross station, were in danger which added to their reasoning to close the station.

Krysia said: “We could not continue to put staff in harm’s way by having them service the station and the damage to the bikes could not be tolerated.

“We have been working with Glasgow City Council, the police and community safety to identify the culprits and put an end to the disruption to the service in Govan.

“Ultimately those responsible for the threatening behaviour and vandalism are undermining their own community.”

Users are being told to use nearby stations Ibrox, University Hospital or Cessnock in place of Govan Cross.

The station is expected to be reinstated in the future.