The alarm for rising bike thefts has once again been sounded, this time by staff across Nottingham’s hospitals after at least five bicycle thefts at City Hospital this year, while stolen bikes have become almost a “weekly thing” at the Queen's Medical Centre, as cyclists said the lack of CCTVs in the bike storage areas made it a perfect place for thieves to strike.
NottinghamshireLive reports that on July 19, one of the storage facilities at City Hospital was snuck into, with two bikes stolen after having their locks cut off.
Natapon Jantawong, a hospital chef who owns one of the stolen bikes, said the theft had left him “p***** off”. Workers said that there had been at least five bicycle thefts at City Hospital this year, with one saying it was an almost “weekly thing” at the Queen's Medical Centre.
The 30-year-old who cycles from Hucknall about four miles away, said that his bike, a Giant CRS 1.0 hybrid was a gift from his dad and was stolen from a secure compound next to the Eatwell restaurant. He added that to get into the storage, you just had to push a button that could be done through the fence.
“It’s quite close to the door so it’s easy to poke something through. I could easily get in without a pass,” he said, adding that a lack of CCTV made it “perfect for thieves”.
“It was in the middle of the day. It was very sunny, people were walking about. My bike’s not the first one to get nicked, two of my colleagues had them nicked before.”
Gabriel Tanase, a catering assistant who cycles to work at both hospitals, said security at the City site was “basically non-existent”.
Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham (Google Maps)
“NUH encourages you come by bike, there’s a cycle to work programme. How can you if you know there’s been so many thefts?,” said the 39-year-old. He said the situation was even worse at the QMC, where thefts are a “weekly thing”.
Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs the sites, said it had increased the number of security patrols and planned to open a new secure compound next month. Nottinghamshire Police said they had also increased the number of patrols around the hospitals, but they dropped these recent investigations as there were no witnesses and “no other viable lines of inquiry”.
Ian Johnson, head of security at NUH said: “We have increased the number of physical patrols from our security team in and around the cycle and motorcycle compounds. All cycle compounds across our sites are only accessible with a staff ID card. We will soon be opening a new cycle compound at City Hospital with increased security.
“We have regular meetings with local police to discuss cycle safety across both sites and have introduced a new Let’s Talk Travel group for staff to raise concerns or questions.” PC Sarah Barnes, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “In response to reports, we have increased uniform and plain clothes patrols around hospitals to show would-be criminals that we will not tolerate this type of crime.
“Unfortunately, in some circumstances we are unable to get the vital pieces of evidence to solve the crimes - but this does not mean we will give up. Any new evidence that comes to light will always be investigated.” The force added it had arrested and charged a 30-year-old man in connection with the theft of a bike from the QMC in March.
NUH said the new 120-bike compound, which is expected to open by late August, will have an interlocking two-door system that can only be accessed with staff ID. The trust said the area will also be monitored by CCTV cameras.