'Flying' Cambridge bikes prompt police crackdown

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-34657267

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Photos of "flying" bikes haphazardly left on the top of fences or suspended from trees have been posted on Twitter in a police crackdown on bad parking.

Examples of randomly parked cycles in Cambridge have been released to make people think "more carefully about how they park or secure" cycles.

The force said the photos in its #badlyparkedbike campaign were not "uncommon sights".

According to figures, 58% of people in Cambridge cycle at least once a month.

Insp Matt Johnson, of Cambridgeshire police, said: "While the photos are unbelievable, sights like this are not uncommon in Cambridge.

"This sort of parking causes an obstruction, it can make things difficult for others to unlock their bikes and - in a small number of cases - people have injured themselves when trying to remove bikes.

"Wherever possible, use a proper bike rack as these are designed to prevent theft when combined with a good lock."

While a number of people responded that bad parking is "dangerous", others said the crackdown has highlighted the need for more parking racks.

One user, Al Storer, said: "All [it]... really shows is locations where the available bike parking is WOEFULLY lacking."

Insp Johnson said there was a "huge amount of cycle parking provision across the city" but the number of abandoned cycles taking up spaces was an on-going problem.