A MAJOR campaign has been launched by police in York to protect the city’s cycles, and make them easier to trace if they go missing.

So far this month, 46 bikes have been reported stolen in York, down by almost 50 per cent from the same period in April last year, which saw 88 reports of thefts.

Officers are keen to see that number reduce even further, and have launched a new campaign, Operation Clover, to clamp down on cycle theft.

As the Tour de Yorkshire arrives in the region, York’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams will be running a series of cycle security drop-in sessions across the city.

On Sunday, officers will be at Bishopthorpe Road, Millennium Bridge and York Railway Station between 10am and 2pm. Residents can bring their bikes along and get them security-marked for free, using a sophisticated dot peen property marking machine.

The owner of every marked bike will also be offered a keyring engraved with their bike’s unique number, acting as a reminder should the worst happen and the bike is later lost or stolen.

Dot peen marking involves using a tungsten carbide-tipped pin to indent an object with dots to create a unique number.