Norwich police hail crackdown on bike thieves

A Norwich police crackdown on bike thieves has been hailed a success after 14 people were arrested for stealing cycles across the city.

Since Norwich police launched Operation Fusion on September 22, more than 40pc fewer pedal cycles have been stolen with West Centre neighbourhood seeing a drop from 24 to eight on the same period last year. In the City Centre area there has been a reduction of 32 to 19 over the same period last year.

There has also been a 33pc reduction in burglaries at buildings other than houses involving cycle thefts during the campaign.

Chief Inspector Dennis Lacey, from City Centre SNT, said: 'We are pleased with how well Operation Fusion has gone so far. There have been a number of significant arrests and charges.

'However, we would like to reassure the public that we will continue to proactively target those responsible for pedal cycle thefts and that anyone involved in stealing them will get caught and dealt with robustly.

'I would also like to reiterate the importance of people who work and live in Norwich to take precautions and prevent them becoming a victim of crime. I would urge members of the public to help us by property marking their bikes by using the 'BikeRegister 'service.'

Over the past five-and-a-half weeks, officers from all Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Norwich stepped up patrols in known hotspots as well as targeting people recently linked to thefts.

The teams also carried out stop checks on anyone seen using bicycles, as well as offering crime prevention advice to cyclists.

Visit the BikeRegister website at www.bikeregister.com.

If you have any information regarding any suspicious behaviour in your area, you can contact your Safter Neighbourhood Team on 0845 456 4567 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Do you have a crime story for the Evening News? Call reporter Ben Kendall on 01603 772423 or email ben.kendall@archant.co.uk