I cycled down to the J.D.Wetherspoons over Baker St. station this evening to meet up with some friends. Outside the station, there is a steel railing which had three bicycles locked to it (one of them my friend's). I happened to walk outside just at the moment the third one was about to be removed by two men with a five foot long bolt cutter! When asked what was going on, they explained they were from London Underground, and that my friend's bike was now inside the station. The one they were about to cut off was a rather smart and new looking On-One Il Pompino. I persuaded them to give it a minute and went back in to the pub to try and alert the owner, via the manager, who duly asked almost everyone in the place if they owned a bike locked up outside. It turned out that my mates bike and the other bike had already been taken, and the On-One owner just got out in time to save his lock. The other two were not so lucky, although they did get their bikes back.
The moral of the story - don't lock you bike to LU property, even if it isn't very well signposted as such. My friend is an ex-employee, so there may be an update as to whether he gets the cost of his destroyed lock back.
I cycled down to the J.D.Wetherspoons over Baker St. station this evening to meet up with some friends. Outside the station, there is a steel railing which had three bicycles locked to it (one of them my friend's). I happened to walk outside just at the moment the third one was about to be removed by two men with a five foot long bolt cutter! When asked what was going on, they explained they were from London Underground, and that my friend's bike was now inside the station. The one they were about to cut off was a rather smart and new looking On-One Il Pompino. I persuaded them to give it a minute and went back in to the pub to try and alert the owner, via the manager, who duly asked almost everyone in the place if they owned a bike locked up outside. It turned out that my mates bike and the other bike had already been taken, and the On-One owner just got out in time to save his lock. The other two were not so lucky, although they did get their bikes back.
The moral of the story - don't lock you bike to LU property, even if it isn't very well signposted as such. My friend is an ex-employee, so there may be an update as to whether he gets the cost of his destroyed lock back.
Did they say why they were destroying people property?
The moral of the story - don't lock you bike to LU property, even if it isn't very well signposted as such. My friend is an ex-employee, so there may be an update as to whether he gets the cost of his destroyed lock back.
Quoted message said:
Did they say why they were destroying people property?
Unfortunately, I was a little too busy trying to orchestrate saving what remained of other people's locks using tact and diplomacy to really get into discussion with them about that. (Plus I'm not going to argue with someone wielding five feet of steel without superior weapons). However, if my mate gets any feedback, I'll post it here. Don't hold your breath. Anyone who knows about the legal situation is welcome to comment, as the fence was the opposite side of the pavement to the underground station.
In message <[email hidden]>, Jim Price <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
the fence was the opposite side of the pavement to the underground station.
The fence and the ground it's on probably belong to the highway authority (in London is that the borough council?) Your best bet for finding out is to ask LU whether they're asserting the fence and land are theirs, and to prove it.
In message <[email hidden]>, Jim Price <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
the fence was the opposite side of the pavement to the underground station.
The fence and the ground it's on probably belong to the highway authority (in London is that the borough council?) Your best bet for finding out is to ask LU whether they're asserting the fence and land are theirs, and to prove it.
Thanks, I will try and pesuade my friend to ask this of LU in his argument about the cut lock.
