Appeal after high value mountain bike thefts across the New Forest

We are appealing for information after the theft of a number of high value mountain bikes in the New Milton and Fordingbridge areas in the last week.

Two sheds and a garage were broken into between 11pm on Tuesday 23 November and 7am on Sunday 28 November, as follows:

• Forest Oak Drive, New Milton - a Canyon Nerve mountain bike as well as a black and blue Canyon EXDCF worth £1,500 each were taken between 11pm on Tuesday 23 November and 6am on Wednesday 24 November (Crime ref: 44210472477)

• Hobart Road, New Milton – Two bikes, including a black Bombtrack gravel bike worth £3,500 were stolen between 10.30pm on Saturday 27 November and 5.30am on Sunday 28 November (Crime ref: 44210477726)

• Station Road, Fordingbridge – Two bikes including a black carbon fibre bike with Campagnolo gears valued at £2,000 was taken between 11pm on Saturday 27 November and 7am on Sunday 28 November (Crime ref: 44210477748

You may know where these bikes have been taken and or have been offered them for sale.

If you have any information about these incidents or have seen any suspicious people or vehicles, please call 101 quoting the relevant crime reference numbers as above.

Alternatively, you can submit information to us online via this link https://www.hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/.

If you own a bike, make sure you take some simple crime prevention measures:

• Ensure your bike is locked or anchored to an immovable point, even inside your shed or garage

• Use a D-Lock - anything less won’t do

• If you use Strava or ride tracking apps, make sure your privacy settings are changed so that your start and end point aren’t shared; this is clearly your home address and where you probably store your bike

• Mark your bike by using a property or police approved forensic marking solution only visible under Ultraviolet (UV) light

• Take pictures of the bike, as well as the bike frame number, as this can assist police in stolen property is recovered and reunite you with your prized possessions

• Register your bike free of charge using one of the accredited property databases such as https://www.immobilise.com/

• You know your community and will notice anything out of the ordinary, such as someone tampering with a lock on a neighbour’s shed - please report this to us

For further crime prevention advice, go to: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/