"Whoever's done it, has done it before": Northampton man calls for better security after £800 bike is stolen from town centre supermarket

A 51-year-old Northampton man has called for better bicycle security across the town centre after his £800 bike was stolen from a busy supermarket.

Steven Warren had his £800 Specialized Hybrid bike stolen from Morrisons, in Victoria Promenade, at around 4pm last Tuesday (March 16) - and now he wants to make other cyclists aware.

Steven, who is from Little Billing and bikes into the town centre for work, said: "I was gutted. You're just gutted, that's it. You know the bike's not coming back. Whoever has done that has used bolt cutters. I was only in there for three or four minutes.

"Whoever's done it, has done it before. They must have watched me get there, go in and then went for it. They know there are no cameras there. That's what it seems like."

Steven went on to explain how the incident happened.

He said: "I was on my way home from work and stopped off at Morrisons in town. I came out and the bike had gone."

The cyclist then spoke to a security guard at the store, as well as a duty manager. He was advised to contact police.

"The [Morrisons] staff said all I can do is call the police and they can view the CCTV, but nothing was captured on it."

Steven said he was annoyed because although it is known to staff that the bike rack is a crime hotspot, no such information is made available to the public, who are the ones using it. And now he is calling for better security at the supermarket and beyond.

He said: "I blame Morrisons, if they want you to shop there they should put cameras up. I would like there to be signs in town saying this area is not covered by CCTV, at least then you know and have got a choice.

"If they want you to shop there then they should have some sort of security."

Steven said he was going to call police but as there was no CCTV evidence he decided not to.

A Morrisons spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately a CCTV camera does not point directly onto our bike racks outside of our store, so sadly we do not hold any footage of the theft. However, we urge the gentleman to report the matter to the police and we will do whatever we can to help them with their enquiries."

A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman said: "We encourage people to report crimes to us as soon as they can either by calling 101 or reporting online. If it’s an emergency – 999."