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Motorbike theft is rising markedly in London and elsewhere in the UK, the capital seeing a 44% increase when comparing 2012 to 2014 data.

The improved security measures in cars is one of the factors behind the rise in bike theft as thieves are becoming deterred from breaking into vehicles with sophisticated alarms/devices. Home Office figures show that 2,900 more motorcycles were stolen in 2014 compared with two years earlier.

London’s Metropolitan Police data also suggests that more motorcycles are being stolen in order to commit other crimes. In the year up to February 2015 around 1,240 crimes in the city involved suspects on PTWs.

READ MORE: 7 ways to stop your bike getting stolen

Andy Barrs, Head of Police Liaison at TRACKER, specialists in stolen vehicle recovery, said: “The latest Police Recorded Crime statistics for England and Wales showed a 3% rise in ‘theft of vehicles’, for the year to June 2015, the first rise in two decades.

“This increase appears to be due to an increase in stolen scooters and motorcycles, which have become increasingly attractive to thieves and joy riders - particularly young offenders - as sophisticated security on cars acts as a deterrent.”

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