A NEW Forest cycling shop has suffered losses of more than £35,000 after thieves stole 15 electric bikes.
New Forest Cycling, a bike hire, repair and retail shop in The Cross, Burley, is now faced with huge business losses for the summer as a row of popular e-bikes were snatched overnight.
Staff discovered the theft last Tuesday morning, with thieves damaging the company van and a storage facility.
Assistant manager Matt Raybould told the Daily Echo: “We arrived at the shop at a usual time of around half eight when we saw our van window had been broken in, before we walked out back and saw the panels of our shed door smashed.
“We’re obviously very angry, sad and confused as to why this has happened. The question we immediately asked was, what are we going to do now? We’re not able to order anymore bikes due to a massive supply issue at the moment. The loss of earnings from this is not going to be good.”
The Cube Reaction Hybrid Pros are worth approximately £2,400 each and are regularly rented out over summer periods, before being sold off later in the year.
Some of the bikes had already been booked for selling but now, due to the theft, the cycle shop has had to inform buyers that they will not be receiving their bikes.
Mr Raybould continued: “We’re hopeful that our insurance can cover some of the losses as these e-bikes are easily our most popular. Every day they’re rented out, so we’ve got a long wait on our hands until we can get new ones.”
The Hybrid Pros were stolen on their own without the necessary battery or key accessories. The keys are personalised, meaning that the bikes cannot be used without them – therefore, Mr Raybould says, any attempt to sell the bikes would be easily “flagged up”.
New Forest Cycling urged anyone with information to come forward and warned other business owners to be wary of a similar incident.
A Hampshire Police spokesperson said: “We are investigating following a burglary at New Forest Cycling, The Cross, Burley.
“The incident happened at some time overnight between 5.30pm on July 26 and 8am on July 27. 15 electric bikes, valued at around £2,400 each, were stolen.
“Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting crime reference number 44210297443.”
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