Abandoned cycles

21 March 2022

Your request & our response

1) In Financial years 2020/2021 and 2021 to date how many Abandoned cycles did Lambeth Council identify as abandoned and remove from the streets.

2) Copies of policy/procedure in relation to what Lambeth Council does once a cycle has been identified as abandoned / reported as abandoned.

3) How long should it take once a cycle is identified as/reported as abandoned to have it removed.

1. Please see the table below which shows the number of bikes collected and the number donated to local community groups. Those that were unable to be used by local community groups were taken for recycling.

The Active Travel team carries out quarterly checks of the borough for abandoned bikes and along with any reported non-obstructive abandoned bikes places a notice giving at least a 2 week notice (more over holidays) warning of removal. Abandoned bikes identified in checks should display at least one abandonment criterium. These include, rusty chain, flat tyre, bird faeces, spider webs, general rust etc. Once the bike has been removed it is kept for 2 weeks at the depot before being donated to a bike charity or project.

Where a bicycle is considered to be blocking the public footway we aim to remove the bicycle within 48 hours of the report. Where the bicycle is considered not to be blocking the footway, we conduct quarterly visits to post notices on the bikes which give the owner a minimum of two weeks' notice to remove the bike. If it is not removed within two weeks then it is collected and either donated to a local community group to teach young residents bike maintenance skills, or recycled.