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Thieves and vandals have finally taken their toll with Bristol’s new bike rental scheme set to be withdrawn from one area of the city after less than two months in operation.

YoBikes will no longer be available in south Bristol after an unprecedented amount of theft and criminal damage forced the provider’s hand.

YoBike quietly tweeted the news to a customer yesterday after he complained that he had been unable to find a bike in the south of the city.

The company’s account tweeted: “Due to the high levels of criminal damage and theft in South Bristol, we have been forced to remove our service from this area.”

UPDATE: YoBikes to be removed from parts of North Bristol too

In a tweet on Monday to a different user who was unable to find a cycle in the same area, YoBike tweeted the bikes had been removed “for now”.

Although there is a suggestion that this is a temporary measure, there does not seem to be a definite date for the return of the service.

The YoBike scheme has been blighted by vandalism and theft since it was introduced to the city on May 9.

Bikes have been found badly damaged and dumped in bizarre places across the city – including wedged in trees, on top of bus stops and at the bottom of ponds.

(Image: Lee Goodship)

Just last week a video emerged on social media of a YoBike being ridden off a bridge and into a river below.

Two weeks ago, the provider took the measure of retro-fitting cable locks on each of the 800 yellow bikes and enforcing mandatory parking areas at public bike racks across the city.

However, it appears that this has fallen short of countering the problems of vandalism and theft in the south of Bristol.

YoBike spokesmen have consistently maintained that the scheme has been a great success regardless of the persistent thefts and vandalism with 10,000 people signed up to the scheme and 1,800 rides undertaken on a daily basis.

However, it seems the operators have now been forced to take action against the callous actions of a minority of users.

It is not yet clear how the withdrawal will be implemented, how long it will last or what the punishment will be for taking a YoBike to the south of the city.

A spokesman for YoBike said: "Due to higher than average vandalism rates, we have temporarily removed some parking locations in Bristol while we retrofit bikes with new security features.

"These parking locations have been removed not just in the south, but also in places north of the river.

"We are committed to operating right across Bristol and as YoBikes are retrofitted we will be re-enabling parking spots in these areas."