East Anglia: Bait bike could be tempting to thieves!

Somewhere in the region there’s a tempting bike waiting to be stolen that could land you in very hot water.

The “bait bike” is part of the armoury deployed by the British Transport Police in an attempt to make stations across East Anglia safer.

It is a fairly modern cycle, but it has hidden tracking devices built into it which can pinpoint its location exactly if stolen – and it has been moved to different stations around East Anglia in an attempt to catch any cycle thieves who take it.

The existence of the cycle was revealed to Ipswich MP Ben Gummer as he presented a Secure Station certificate to mark its award by the Department of Transport.

The national awards scheme recognises good practice where train operators have worked in partnership with the British Transport Police and other partners in implementing security measures at stations, taking into account areas such as station design, management practices, security and passenger safety.

His visit also marked improvements to the station, including new paint and new public toilets on platform two.

James Steward, Area Customer Services Manager, said, “We are delighted that the upgrade to Ipswich is now complete.

“The new facilities will be of great benefit to passengers using this key Suffolk station, creating a more welcoming environment for customers as they wait for trains.”

The rail operator took over responsibility for large stations in the region from Network Rail earlier this year – the only one still in NR hands is Liverpool Street.

It is looking for new tenants for some of the empty units between platform two and the taxi rank – and these could include a mini supermarket and a cycle hire business.