Theft of motorscooters in Upper Sydenham

[Robin Orton]

One of our local roadsweepers told me that he thinks there may currently be a wave of thefts of motorscooters in Upper Sydenham. (He'd just found a bolt-cutter semi-concealed in Baxter Fields, which he thinks may have been used to break locks and which he was going to take to the police). Apparently the culprits are young joy-riders, who after driving the scooters round a bit dump them somewhere like Baxter Fields.

[Bamy]

I had my scooter stolen from Fransfield Grove last Saturday about midnight. It wasn't used for joyriding – we found it in the alley at the end of Rosamond Grove, completely stripped of everything except the wheels with the chains still on them (although they'd tried their best to cut them off). I stupidly didn't lock it to anything, so the theives had just picked it up and carried it away.

So if you can, make sure you lock your scooters to a lampost or something - and if there are other bikes in the street, ask their owners if they mind you chaining your bikes together for added safety.