Hackney is the London borough where a bike is most likely to be stolen, according to new figures covering the year to March 2026.
The east London borough recorded a comparative score of 3.83, the highest in the Metropolitan Police force area table, ahead of the City of Westminster on 3.55 and Southwark on 3.18.
Camden followed closely with 3.16, while Islington scored 2.99. Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith and Fulham both recorded 2.85, and Lambeth was next with 2.52.
Kensington and Chelsea scored 2.02 and Wandsworth 1.87, both above the force average of 1.61. Richmond upon Thames also sat above the benchmark at 1.77, while Hounslow was just below it at 1.60.
Further down the table, Newham recorded 1.41 and Kingston upon Thames 1.40. Waltham Forest scored 1.26, Merton 1.03 and Haringey 1.00, followed by Lewisham on 0.97, Ealing on 0.92 and Greenwich on 0.86.
Brent recorded 0.78, Hillingdon 0.74 and Barking and Dagenham 0.57. Redbridge and Enfield both scored 0.54, while Croydon recorded 0.45 and Bromley and Barnet both scored 0.43.
At the bottom of the comparison, Havering had 0.40, Sutton and Harrow both scored 0.39, and Bexley recorded the lowest score of all, at just 0.28.
The figures are presented as a comparative score rather than a raw count, so they show how each borough measures up against the force average of 1.61. On that basis, Hackney’s score is more than double the average, while Bexley’s is roughly a fourteenth of Hackney’s. The pattern puts the busiest central boroughs at the top of the table and the quieter outer boroughs at the bottom — a reminder that the ranking reflects where bikes are concentrated and how often they are left in public, as much as how many are taken.
The figures come with a human cost. Christopher Forrester, 39, of no fixed abode, was caught on CCTV using an angle grinder on June 16 to cut through a D-lock on a bike parked on Cheapside in the City of London. He was approached by two officers on patrol as they aimed their Tasers, and was tackled to the ground by a member of the public after being chased on a busy street. He has been jailed.
Not every stolen bike stays lost. An east London woman was reunited with her stolen Brompton after its new owner used AI to search the bicycle’s serial number and traced it back to her online appeal. The bike, belonging to a 20-year-old charity worker named Martha, was taken from outside an optician’s in Canning Town on June 27. The distinctive folding bike, decorated in yellow, white, blue and red, had been purchased second-hand for £300 just two months earlier.
Cyclists can cut the risk with a few straightforward habits: lock the frame, not just a wheel, to a fixed stand with a good D-lock; leave the bike somewhere busy and well-lit rather than tucked away out of sight; and keep a note of the frame number, which is what makes it possible to trace a bike if it turns up for sale later. A cheap cable lock and a quiet corner are the combination thieves look for.
Anyone who has a bike stolen should report it to the police with the frame number and any photos, and keep an eye on second-hand listings. A report matters even when the bike is never found: it is the reported figures that build the picture of where theft is happening, and where patrols and secure parking are needed most.
The bike theft figures sit alongside other recent crime data for the capital. More than 51,000 burglaries were recorded across London in the year to September 2026, with Westminster and Tower Hamlets recording the highest numbers, while violent crime also rose, with Westminster again at the top of the borough rates.
