A PENARTH bike shop has teamed up with local police in a bid to put the brakes on bike theft.

The Bike Shop, on Glebe Street, has recently launched a scheme that aims to prevent anyone from trading in second-hand bikes that have been stolen.

In an innovative scheme that was the brainchild of local PCSO Rhys Allen, anyone that trades in a bike now has a photo taken of them with the bike and their personal ID.

If Penarth Police are investigating a bike theft in the area the bike shop then has photos of all the second-hand bikes recently sold to them and who brought them in.

It is hoped this will act as a deterrent to anyone stealing bikes and attempting to sell them on.

Karey Sharp, who owns The Bike Shop, said: “We work very closely with the police.

“Through the scheme we have been able to recover two stolen bikes to the original people that owned them.”

He added that it was hoped the scheme would be introduced across the Vale.

“We believe that bike theft is a massive problem across the Vale and this could help tackle it,” he said.

“We are going to continue working with the police to do our best to reduce bike crime in Penarth.”

Karey, who is originally from Arizona but moved to Wales 13 years ago when he was working with 118 118, added that the bike shop was also planning other innovative ventures.

As well as hoping to become part of the governments ‘Cycle to Work Scheme’, where employees can save money on buying new bikes, the shop is also focusing on selling electronic bikes.

He said that with population growth in Cardiff and the Vale councils were trying to accommodate cyclists more and reduce the amount of people using cars.

He added that compared to cars electric bikes were “inexpensive, more efficient and didn’t cost as much” and meant that youngsters didn’t have to pay for petrol or insurance.