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Shed broken into and bike stolen
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andy103374


Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 2011
Post: #1
04-04-2012 09:45 PM

I hate to make my first post on this forum a negative one, but last night my bike shed was broken into and commuter bike stolen. I'm on Siddons road and it's fairly clear that they got over a neighbouring garden fence and into my garden.

Just a message to everyone to be vigilant when it comes to locking bikes up. I will now be securing my back garden and will upgrade my shed when I get a new bike.

If anyone should see a silver/grey colour Specialized Rock Hopper Mountain Bike with thinish (hybrid road) type tires on I'd appreciate a heads-up. It has two lights on the front, one on the rear and a small bag under the saddle.

Since moving here last year my experience has been a very positive one, so I won't let this make me change my mind about the area.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #2
05-04-2012 10:03 AM

Andy
I admire your positive approach and indeed most citizens in SE 23 are friendly and law abiding.
Let us hope your property is returned soonest.

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dongle


Posts: 7
Joined: Oct 2011
Post: #3
05-04-2012 01:25 PM

Not another one!
We're going to need a new section for these things soon Sad

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

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AMFM


Posts: 306
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #4
05-04-2012 03:36 PM

Which side of Siddons are you on Andy? I'm on Siddons too and I've always (clearly mistakenly!) assumed that our sheds were relatively secure since the gardens back onto other gardens. May be time to finally get a new shed and padlock...

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PaulR


Posts: 14
Joined: Nov 2008
Post: #5
05-04-2012 03:48 PM

Eek. Sorry to hear about that.

It's frighteningly close to my fleet. I'd better re-open negotiations to have at least some of our bikes indoors. Or get one of those trimetals bike stores.

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #6
05-04-2012 03:50 PM

A shed alarm is a cheap way of detering these idiots. Sorry to hear about your theft.

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andy103374


Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 2011
Post: #7
05-04-2012 07:58 PM

Thanks for all the kind responses.

In better light I have seen that they got over my back fence. There is some communal ground for flats at the back of my flat and they've managed to get over that somehow. In the light I was able to see where a plant had been squashed. I was surprised as the bike is pretty heavy (it's got a front suspension fork) and the fence is over 6ft with trees and shrubs, which I thought would make it nearly impossible to get a bike over it!

AMFM - I'm looking into getting one of those metal bike sheds with multiple padlock points. Although I'm tempted to just keep any bike I get in the flat from now on!

PaulR - I only had my bike on the house insurance which does not cover it that well (does not cover the lights etc at all!). Since then I've looked at specific bike insurance; the Evans one looks quite good and works out about £70 for the year with 3rd party liabilty. It covers it so long as it's locked to a fixed point with an approved lock - might be worth a look(?)

This post was last modified: 05-04-2012 08:01 PM by andy103374.

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brucethechap


Posts: 8
Joined: Jan 2011
Post: #8
10-04-2012 04:30 PM

Hi

I'm really sorry to hear about your bike. I live on Vancouver Road (so not far from you) and the same happened to me last June (and it appears it's happened to a few others in the local area (http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5320). Same deal with me - I had 2 bikes stolen out of the shed and taken over 2 garden fences, one of which was about 8 feet high. With all of these shed burglaries taking place in the same area, does make me think the thieves are local.

I trawled eBay and Gumtree daily for months in hope of finding my 2 beloved road bikes, but sadly no luck. Fortunately I was covered by contents insurance. Unfortunately, when it came to renewal time, by premium almost doubled.

Try having a look on this site http://bikeshd.co.uk/ BikeShd amalgamates all of the bikes for sale on second-hand websites in London so victims of bike theft can easily search to see if their bike has been posted for sale. It also appears to be updated hourly. I didn't know about it at the time of my thefts, but it would have made looking for stolen goods easier.

For anyone who's reading this in passing, the police told me even if you keep your bike in a locked shed, make sure it's locked, preferably with 2 different locks (say a d-lock and a hefty chain) and if you can, lock the bike to something anchored to the ground, as it's much more of a deterrent. My replacement bike is now kept inside, and even then, it's double locked to the ground. I've also put an additional dead lock on my front door. Yes, very paranoid, and it's not ideal, but theft is painful.

I really hope you have some joy finding your bike.

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casper


Posts: 1
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #9
11-04-2012 11:00 AM

Same thing happened to me a few months back on Vestris Rd. Shed broken into and two bikes taken. No access to garden apart from over high back fence.

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JackJess


Posts: 9
Joined: Jul 2009
Post: #10
17-04-2012 11:59 AM

Same here! bike stolen from shed a few weeks back. como road - we have high fences and side gate always locked.
Sad

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brucethechap


Posts: 8
Joined: Jan 2011
Post: #11
17-04-2012 12:22 PM

In the past 9 months, I know of bikes being stolen from sheds in limited access gardens on:-

- Como Road
- Siddons Road
- Elsinore Road
- Hurstbourne Road
- 3 on Vancouver Road

If you put these on a map it looks like there's a pattern. It may be a pure concidence, but I'd suggest anyone with a half decent bike, who lives in the South Circular - Perry Hill/Perry Vale - Catford Hill/Perry Rise triangle re-visits their bicycle storage/security arrangements.

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Erekose


Posts: 557
Joined: May 2010
Post: #12
17-04-2012 08:43 PM

All of which implies a fair degree of watching and waiting on the part of the thieves - seems unlikely that they would opportunistically break into sheds in difficult to access back gardens on the off chance that there might be a bike in one of them.

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Tomcat


Posts: 65
Joined: Apr 2012
Post: #13
19-04-2012 09:18 PM

I also live on Siddons Road and by the sound of your description Andy on the same side of the road as you. I have noticed that a group of youths has begun to congregate on the private land at the bottom of the council flats, generally smoking and hanging around. I have also noticed that a couple of the panels of the fence on the Normanton Road side of the land are missing. I'm not saying that these youths are the culprits but it does make you wonder. It's certainly disconcerting. At the very least they should not be there as it is private land. I have reported this to the local community policing team. I have a shed with a mountain bike so I am very aware of who's on the land on the other side of the fence at the foot of my garden. I also note that one of the youths has been alluded to on a number of other posts and is generally intimated to be a bit of a problem in the area.

Sorry to hear about your bike being stolen.

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BarCar


Posts: 294
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #14
21-04-2012 08:39 AM

The Met raided a property in Crofon Park following increased bike thefts.

https://twitter.com/mpslewisham/status/1...2182779905

They found 8 bikes, 2 confirmed stolen. May be worth getting in touch with them if you haven't already.

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