The Met Police have launched a ‘Be Safe’ campaign to crack down on rising moped thefts across the city.

In Tower Hamlets there were nearly 500 thefts of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and three wheelers in 2013. By 2014, that figure had risen to 653, and in 2016 it stood at 782 thefts.

The Met’s new campaign urges bike owners to ‘lock, chain and cover’ scooters to make them less visible to thieves. Stolen scooters are directly correlated to the rise in crimes committed from bikes – last year, almost 23,500 crimes were committed using 14,000 stolen scooters, motorcycles and mopeds.

Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt of territorial policing said: “We have put a huge amount of effort into stemming the rise in moped-enabled crime and are now seeing reductions, which is great. However, we are not complacent. All the new tactics and technology we have introduced will be backed up by really proactive policing.

“We will keep arresting offenders and running proactive intelligence led operations to make the streets more hostile for criminals to operate. Also, through focusing our efforts on dismantling markets for stolen goods we will make these crimes less financially beneficial.

“I’d like to ask all scooter or moped users in London to become a part of our effort to make life harder for these criminals. Lock, chain, and cover your bike when you leave it. It is simple yet effective, and if it makes a thief think twice before stealing your bike then it’s worth it.”

In December 2016 alone, there were 14 mopeds stolen in Barking and Dagenham. Earlier this month, a 17-year-old from Dagenham was one of three men handed prison sentences for committing a series of robberies on stolen motorcycles in central London.

The advice being given by the Motorcycle Industry Association and police is to use a disk lock to secure the front brake disc of vehicles, or a brake lock to secure brake and throttle controls.

Chains should be looped through the back wheel as front wheels can be removed, and they should be attached to an immovable object on the street, like a ground anchor or street furniture.