York City Centre Safer Neighbourhood Team is proactively targeting those who are committing cycle crime in the city centre.

This week alone the team have made two significant arrests, following further investigation work, which has led to two people being charged with a number of cycle thefts.

Sgt Tim Craven of the York City Centre Safer Neighbourhood Team said:

“The team are also actively patrolling the cycle racks in the city centre, and we are finding that some members of the public are not securing their cycles with a sufficient standard of lock.

“In some cases, cycles are being secured with cheap wire locks that can be very quickly and easily overcome making them an ideal target for a would-be thief. I want to reassure the public that cycle crime does remain low, but we are asking that cyclists correctly secure their bikes with a good standard of lock, to prevent their potential loss”

Alongside investing in a good quality bike lock to prevent theft; there are a number of things cyclists can do to ensure that, if stolen and recovered their bike can be returned to them.

By registering your bicycle model, make and frame number this assists the police in returning recovered bikes to their rightful owners.  Your local police station can provide further advice.

Taking a clear, colour photograph of your bike and making a written record of its description, including any unique features, is also advised so that you can report it accurately if stolen.

Security marking the bicycle is also a good idea. York Police have recently invested in the top-of-the-range “dot peen” property marking machines and are offering the marking service free to York residents.

Dot peen marking involves using a tungsten carbide-tipped pin to indent an object with dots to create a visible, permanent unique number. The unique number will be entered onto the national Immobilise property register database, vastly increasing the chances that it will be reunited with its owner if it is lost or stolen.

For more cycle safety tips visit http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/cyclesafety or to find out when the next property marking event is taking place, follow your local York police team on Twitter at @snayorkcityeast @snayorknorth or @snayorkwest

Appeal following domestic dispute

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information about a an incident that occurred near to the junction of Piccadilly and Tower Street, close to the entrance of the car park to St Georges field in York.

It happened during what is described as ‘the morning rush hour’ on Wednesday 13 August 2015 and involved a 28-year-old woman and a man from York.

As a result of an incident the woman received substantial facial injuries after falling to the floor.

We are conducting enquiries and are requesting the public’s assistance to help determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

In particular we are appealing for information from anyone who tried to offer assistance to the couple.

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation should contact us on 101, select option 2, and ask for Dc 616 Wright. You can also email Theresa.Wright@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12150141784.