Crime stats reveal a Hertfordshire train station has been victim to the most bicycle thefts in the country since 2016.

St Albans City station has recorded 262 bike thefts, including 94 last year, a rise of 27 per cent from the previous year.

The statio has 1,150 cycling spaces - the second most in the country.

Watford Junction, despite being the busiest train station in Hertfordshire and ranked 55th busiest in the country, has significantly less thefts – with 39 bikes being stolen in 2018/19 compared to the 94 in St Albans.

Bricket Wood and Garston are one of the quietest stations in the country and just the one bike has been stolen at both stations since 2016.

Click on the icons on the map below to see the statistics from train stattions in our area.

Jason Wills, 50, from St Albans, had his bike stolen from St Albans City station in October 2018. He started cycling to raise money for charities supporting his diabetic daughter.

Father-of-two Mr Wills, who works in marketing, commutes to London two or three days a week and cycles three miles to the station from his home.

He locked his hybrid bike at the station on 22 October last year and returned later that evening to find it had gone.

He said: "I was emotionally attached to it because it was a present from my wife. I used the bike to raise quite a lot of money for charity to help my daughter and it was ripped from me."

The footage captured on CCTV of the theft was not good enough to investigate it further, Mr Wills said.

Mr Wills added: "There's a whole approach of getting people to cycle to the station instead of taking their car, and I totally respect that for environmental reasons, but the problem is security at the station."

Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates St Albans City station, said the company planned to create more secure cycle facilities.

The British Transport Police urge cyclists to invest in good quality D-locks and ensure their bikes are securely marked and registered at www.bikeregister.com

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