Latest police crime figures show that bicycle theft fell by nearly 10% across the country from 2019 to 2020.

The biggest drops were during the first lockdown, with April 2020 recording a 39.5% fall (down from 6690 to 4050 crimes reported) year-on-year, followed by March – down 30.5% (6340 to 4410).

The easing of lockdown restrictions led to a small resurgence in bicycle crime, with September recording a near 10% year-on-year rise in reported thefts - a likely combination of soaring bicycle sales and a greater number of opportunities for thieves.

Those most likely to have their bicycles pinched were cyclists in Cambridgeshire, reporting on average 3.9 crimes per 1000 residents, London reported 3.3 crimes and Thames Valley 2.1 – the same areas that topped the bicycle theft hotspots in 2019.

[H3] What about Falmouth? [.H2]

In 2019 there were 32 bicycle thefts reported in the Truro and Falmouth constituency and in 2020 this fell to 22.

These are really low and rural areas usually have very low crime rates for bicycle theft whereas cities will dwarf these stats for some postcode areas.

Devon and Cornwall Police recorded the 2nd lowest bicycle crimes out of 43 police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2020.

The crime rate was .33 crimes per 1000 residents for the combined counties. By contrast, the area with the most crimes Cambridgeshire had a 3.89 rate.

Responding to the latest figures, Greg Wilson founder of bicycle insurance site Quotezone, said:

"With the nation in lockdown you would expect bicycle crime to be non-existent, not just down by 10% but the surge in cycling over the last 12 months has been quite unprecedented, with a 78% rise in cycling reported during the course of the first lockdown.

"As the country cautiously prepares to emerge from lockdown, there's a possibility the number of bicycle thefts might rise sharply, given the increase in bikes available to opportunistic thieves.

"Bike safety and comprehensive insurance will be important - especially since a large percentage are new owners and perhaps unaware of what's available to protect themselves and their bicycle."

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