A STOLEN bike has been returned to its rightful owner thanks to help from the Worle beat team.

The stolen bike was thankfully on the bike register. Police regularly run bike marking events, which allows officers to secure and ID your bicycle should it be stolen.

A North Somerset Neighbourhood Policing spokesperson said: "Following live intelligence to the Worle beat team, we were able to recover a stolen bicycle within minutes of information being received.

"Attended the scene;

"Bike located;

"Returned to owner.

"This bicycle benefitted from being on the bike register during one of our bike marking events. The sticker is extremely difficult to remove or deface so we could return it to the owner shortly after we recovered it.

"This is a free service and is a vital tool in our ability to secure and ID your bicycle - more importantly to be able to get it back to you.

"We know that for many, bicycles can be a big expense and vital piece of personal transport. We want to get you property back to you. We will be holding a bike marking event at Sainsbury's on Wednesday, May 8 2024.

"This will be between 15:00 and 17:00 hours after school so we can offer the service to as many parents and school children as possible. We would really encourage you to attend.

"Please share this message far and wide, with friends, family and your children so we can get as many bikes secured as possible.

"Again, we know that as a Police force we are criticised for not investigating these types of reports. However, where information is given to us, your local beat team are on duty, we will respond to recover your property. We can't be everywhere all at once, but we will do our best.

"Yet again, you the public are proving to be critical in our ability to be proactive in crime prevention, detection and positive action. Please continue to submit intelligence as often as you can.

"999 for live incidents;

"101 for non critical reports;

"Online for non critical reports (quicker than 101);

"Crime stoppers;

"Street safe app."