Last year in Britain 440,000 bikes were stolen that's 1,200 every day. If you were one of the unlucky victims, you know how sickening it is to return to the place you thought you’d safely left your bike – only to find that some thief has broken the lock and stolen it. Many stolen bikes are found when the criminal tries to sell them. Buyers and the police can check the bike's unique Serial number (printed on the chassis) and search online to see if its been registered as stolen. But if the criminals sell the bikes on auction or second hand sites like E-Bay and Gumtree, they don’t have to put the serial number on the advert – and if the buyer doesn’t ask for it, they can end up with stolen property. Not only are they unwittingly giving money to criminals, they risk the bike being confiscated and could face prosecution. We want Gumtree and E-Bay to join the fight against bike crime by making it compulsory for sellers to publish the serial number of any advertised bike. This would not only protect online shoppers, but make it easier for the police to search for stolen bikes - and stop the thieves profiting from their crime. Don’t let the internet be a place for criminals to make money – help us cyclists protect the bikes we love.

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