Police data, March 2026 to August 2026

Where bikes get stolen in London: 45 places ranked

I pulled six months of police data for 45 well known places across London and counted the bikes reported stolen within a mile of each one. Shoreditch High Street came out worst with 625 in six months, roughly 104 a month. Harrow-on-the-Hill had 11.

The numbers

#	Place	Bikes stolen, 6 months	A month
1	Shoreditch High Street	625	104
2	Liverpool Street	573	96
3	Angel, Islington	416	69
4	King's Cross	399	67
5	Bethnal Green	398	66
6	Oxford Circus	391	65
7	Whitechapel	386	64
8	London Bridge	373	62
9	Dalston	372	62
10	Waterloo	362	60
11	Elephant and Castle	344	57
12	Hackney Central	273	46
13	Brixton	272	45
14	Paddington	239	40
15	Peckham Rye	210	35
16	Finsbury Park	202	34
17	Camden Town	178	30
18	Clapham Common	171	29
19	Hammersmith	166	28
20	Clapham Junction	165	28
21	Shepherd’s Bush	158	26
22	Canary Wharf	154	26
23	Kensington High Street	151	25
24	Stratford	144	24
25	Greenwich	105	18
26	Kingston	97	16
27	Lewisham	93	16
28	Walthamstow Central	90	15
29	Tooting Broadway	77	13
30	Putney	63	11
31	Hounslow	57	10
32	Croydon	52	9
33	Ealing Broadway	45	8
34	Richmond	44	7
35	Wood Green	43	7
36	Ilford	40	7
37	Woolwich Arsenal	36	6
38	Wimbledon	36	6
39	Barking	34	6
40	Sutton	21	4
41	Wembley Central	18	3
42	Bromley South	17	3
43	Romford	15	3
44	Uxbridge	13	2
45	Harrow-on-the-Hill	11	2

Bicycle thefts the police recorded within a mile of each place, March 2026 to August 2026. Source: data.police.uk, the official open street crime feed for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Counted on 2026-10-18.

How to read this

It is a count, not a rate. Central places have far more bikes locked up, so they come out higher. Shoreditch High Street, Liverpool Street and Angel, Islington are where the most bikes are, and where the most go missing.
It is a mile around the station or centre, not the whole area or borough. Two places close together share some of the same streets.
Only reported thefts. Plenty never get reported, so the real numbers are higher everywhere.
The pattern holds year after year. Thefts cluster around stations, shopping streets and nightlife, and drop off fast in the outer boroughs.

What actually helps

Two locks, two types. A good D-lock through the frame and rear wheel, plus a chain or cable for the front wheel. Thieves carry one tool, not two.
Lock to something solid. A Sheffield stand bolted into the ground beats a railing or a signpost. Covered stands in busy spots are better again.
Pick the stand before you ride. A spot 200 metres further along can be a different world. That is the bit most of us never check.
Register the frame number on BikeRegister so the police can give it back if it turns up.

The app does the checking for you

GYM: Getting You Moving has a Bike Theft Check built in. Finish a ride, or pick a place you are heading to, and it uses this same police data to rate the bike stands around you: how many bikes went missing nearby in the last six months, which stands are covered, and which one is the better bet. It also plans Safe Routes that steer around the worst streets and prefer well lit, busy roads after dark.

I built it because I am a London personal trainer and I was fed up of friends turning up to sessions having lost a bike on the way. It is free for 7 days, then £1.99 a month.

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Common questions

Where are the most bikes stolen in London?

In this count of 45 places, the most bikes were stolen within a mile of Shoreditch High Street, Liverpool Street and Angel, Islington. Central, busy places with lots of bikes locked up come out highest.

Where does the data come from?

From data.police.uk, the official open feed of street crime recorded by police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The counts are bicycle thefts within one mile of each place over six months.

Is this a list of the safest places to lock a bike?

No. It is a count of reported thefts, so places with more bikes will have more thefts. Use it as a guide to how careful to be, and check the stands where you actually stop.

How does the Bike Theft Check in the app work?

When a ride ends, or when you pick a place, the app looks at the police theft counts within 250 metres of each nearby bike stand over the last six months, notes whether the stand is covered, and tells you which one is the better choice. It is in GYM: Getting You Moving on iPhone and Android.