A PETITION has called for an end to the 'constant spectre of bike theft' in Oxford.

The online petition was opened to signatures on Oxford City Council's website last month and calls for the council to do more to help people protect their locked bikes in the city.

It begins by saying: "We the undersigned petition the council to make it safe to leave bicycles locked up in the city centre without the constant spectre of theft, and do more to discourage bike theft in Oxford more generally.

"Bike theft in Oxford is at a wholly unacceptable level. With the council looking to introduce bus gates, and to get more people cycling into and around Oxford, more needs to be done to reduce bicycle related crime."

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It suggests measures including giving more money to the police to stop bike thefts, or providing better cycle storage.

Last month, the family of 14-year-old Adam Pinner called bike theft in the city an 'epidemic' after his pride and joy cycle was stolen.

Oxford had the highest proportion of bike thefts in Britain in 2018/19, with 2,050 incidents documented – one for every 81 people.

The petition on the city council website has 58 signatures at the time of writing and is open until August 23.