‘It’s a great shame’ - Watch as brazen thief steals e-bike in broad daylight outside Edinburgh charity
and live on Freeview channel 276
Video footage shows the young man entering the porch of the Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council in Forth Street where he appears to text someone on his mobile phone, before cutting the lock on the bicycle in a matter of seconds a short time later.
It is believed the bike, a Pinnacle with a black frame and mudguards, had been dropped off about an hour before the theft took place on Wednesday morning at around 11:50am.
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Hide AdThe bicycle is one of several which are used for the charity’s ‘e-bikes for all’ scheme - started in December last year - in which staff and members of the public can loan them out.
A member of staff at the Regional Equality Council told the Edinburgh Evening News: “It’s a great shame that this has happened, that people steal bikes, even in the presence of CCTV.
“It seemed organised because we can see the person texting (on the footage) and wonder if they had a van to pick it up or someone keeping check on the street. We just wonder if someone else was helping him out.”
The staff member said police have been in touch and that the lock has been kept for fingerprints and that officers will be reviewing the CCTV footage of the man, whose identity we are concealing for legal reasons.
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Hide AdThe staff member added: “We just want to warn the public to be aware of bike theft. We will double our efforts to be careful as this has caught our attention, and bike theft seems to be happening more and more during Covid.”
The staff member said that, usually, the e-bikes are out on loan and don’t tend to be outside their office for very long - but they will now be locking them up inside the building.
Police Scotland has also been contacted.