A bike isn’t just for Christmas – if you take appropriate steps to safeguard it from theft.

With this in mind Rayleigh and Rochford Neighbourhood Watch are planning a special security tagging session early in the New Year.

It will be held at Rayleigh library and details of the date and time are below. The service is free and the tags have been provided by the Rochford District Community Safety Partnership.

Chair of the NHW, Mike Hooper, said: “This is an ideal opportunity for anyone buying or expecting to receive a bike this Christmas to come along and have it fitted with a tag.”

The individually coded electronic tags are implanted in the bike’s frame and each owner will be given a special cycle ‘passport’ with the code, which is also registered on a national database.

This allows police to identify any recovered bikes and return them to their owners. Stickers can also be attached to the bike indentifying them as having been tagged as an additional deterrent to thieves.

Neighbourhood Watch, with the support of the CSP, hold regular bike security sessions across the District and this year so far have fitted almost 250 devices.

Bike tagging event details
Where: Rayleigh Library,
High Street, Rayleigh
When: Saturday,
7 January 2012 between 10am and 12 noon