Government 'Fix your Bike' voucher website breaks on launch - while Northampton repair shop says independent shops could struggle with scheme

The owner of a Northampton bike shop says he is sceptical whether a Government scheme aimed at encouraging people to fix their bicycles will be helpful for independent shops.

The Government launched its "Fix Your Bike" voucher scheme on Tuesday (July 28) as part of a plan to hand out 50,000 £50 vouchers to bicycle repairs on a first-come-first-served basis.

But the debut on Tuesday night was troubled, after the website offering the vouchers launched at 23.45 and crashed shortly afterwards.

Many people took to social media to share their troubles with trying to secure a voucher, but by 9am on Wednesday the website stated the vouchers were no longer available and would be released again "as soon as possible".

There is no available information on how many of the 50,000 vouchers have been secured so far.

One Corby resident, Clare Tyler, says she tried using the website into the early morning but wasn't able to secure a voucher.

She said: "I've had my bike in the garage for five years and thought it would be the perfect way of getting the bike serviced and me back on it.

"I tried at 11.45pm until 12.30pm. I tried at 3.30am and then 6.30am and then gave up."

Chris Cooper, owner of Northampton independent bike shop Velo Haus, in Gold Street Mews, says he saw a four-fold increase in business at the beginning of the lockdown as people got back on their bikes. But he isn't going to get on board with the scheme yet.

He told the Chronicle & Echo: "I think that independents are going to struggle with it.

"For me, the biggest headache is to do with the GDPR of customers afterwards as you've got to take their details to apply.

"They also said it will take up to 10 days to get the money back after applying. But the Government website crashed yesterday and it doesn't bode well. If it ends up taking three weeks for the cash to come in from a handful of service jobs it makes a huge difference.

"To be honest, I don't want to put myself at risk. I'm going to let the big boys and retail chains try it first and if it works for them I'll give it a go."