The area of St James Square in the City of Westminster is one of the UK’s motorcycle theft hotspots, with the council identifying that around 52 bikes are stolen from it’s parking bays per year.
In total 191 machines, that’s around £1,000,000 of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, have been stolen from the City of Westminster since April 2014.
In 2013, the Motorcycle Industry Association introduced the first UK wide tagging scheme in the form of the MASTER Security Scheme.
Back in September, Westminster City Council and Datatag advertised a date where riders could have their bikes tagged under the scheme for just £50, including fitting. Throughout the day there was a steady queue of riders looking to take advantage of the offer in an effort to beat the bike theives.
The tagging involves placing a number of both hidden and highly visible security markers on the bike, which are used to deter thieves and also help the police recover the bikes if stolen. On the day the police were also on hand to verify that the bikes being tagged were not marked as stolen in the first place. After the tagging, warning signs were also put up in the area to let potential thieves know that users in the parking bays had security marked their machines.
Since September, the council have reported that no motorcycles have been taken from St James Square, with hopes that this scheme could also be rolled out to other hotspots in London and elsewhere. This follows another promising set of statistics released back in 2014, which showed that MASTER Security Scheme protected bikes were up to 4 times less likely to be stolen.
Community Protection Officer for Westminster City Council Paul King, who has led on this project explained; “We are determined to reduce motorcycle theft in the City of Westminster and to give parking customers the best possible experience, which includes coming back to find your bike where you parked it. We have applied a combination of measures in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and Datatag, which alerts riders as to the risk and gives them the means to avoid them.
“We aim to repeat the opportunity for riders to have their motorcycles and scooters marked in the New Year for riders who use Berkeley Square parking, as we feel this provided a turning point in St James’s Square, which we would like to repeat for other theft ‘hot spots’ in the City.”
Steve Kenward, CEO of the MCIA, which invented the MASTER Security Scheme, says this concerted effort by Westminster City Council proves that marking works. “We are delighted to hear the part security marking is playing in eliminating theft in St James’s Square and applaud Westminster City Council’s systematic approach in dealing with it and would like to see other London councils making such an effort.”
Over 70,000 bikes have now been protected and registered with the scheme in the UK since January 2013.
