ABANDONED bikes littered across Oxford are to be removed in a new clampdown.

Police and Oxford City Council officers are joining forces to clear the city of cycles left chained to lamposts, railings and stands.

Under the scheme, all abandoned bikes will be tagged and removed after two weeks.

Last night, officers appealed to cyclists to register bikes and get them stamped with their postcode so any abandoned and stolen machines can be traced to their owner.

Pcso Matt Autrey said an increasing number of students are buying cheap bikes and abandoning them at the end of their studies.

He said: “There is a large amount of abandoned bikes in Oxford. You can see them chained up at spots around the city, and they can look scruffy and take up space on the pavement.

“There has been a noticeable increase and so we will be removing bikes.

“If they can’t be traced to their owners, or nobody comes forward, they will be disposed of.”

Mr Autrey said Oxford’s ongoing problem with bike theft could be helped if people registered their cycles.

He said: “Thousands of people cycle in Oxford and there are a large number of bikes stolen.

“We store the cycles we recover at St Aldate’s and do everything we can to reunite them with their owners.

“But it makes it much harder if the bike hasn’t been registered.

“It is also very important to make sure you report a bike theft to us, so it will be on our system if we find your bike.”

From April 2009 to March last year – the last available data – a record 2,137 bikes were stolen in Oxford, a rise of 352 thefts compared with the previous 12 months.

Oxford University student Chris Graham highlighted the problem last June by using boltcutters to steal his own bicycle, to see if anyone would notice and take any action.

He managed to do it nine times in one day without anyone stopping him, despite doing it at lunchtime in front of thousands of shoppers.

Andrew Castle, street scene team leader at the council, said: “We are working closely with police to tackle abandoned bikes in the city.

“We have increased the frequency of our tagging programme to once a fortnight.

“This helps us to reduce the amount of abandoned bikes in the city, make it easier for cyclists to park their bikes and make the city cleaner for reisdents and visitors.

“We also have a new piece of equipment which makes cutting off bike locks more efficient and safer for our staff and members of the public.”