Moment brave members of the public fight off bike thieves trying to pinch ... trends now
This is the surprising moment thieves attempt to brazenly steal a bike from a train station in broad daylight, but are instead thwarted by a group of brave bystanders.
Footage of the incident, which occurred at Bedford train station, captures at least two thieves dressed all in black wearing motorbike helmets being struck at by five members of the public.
Having obstructed their theft, a man in a brown jacket then proceeds to use a long object to strike blows on what is presumably their getaway motorbike.
Unable to mount the vehicle, one of the thieves can be distinctly heard shouting to the other to 'run' .
The two men then make off together away from the crowd down a nearby alleyway.
This is the surprising moment thieves attempt to brazenly steal a bike from Bedford train station in broad daylight, but are instead thwarted by a group of brave bystanders
A small crowd gathers close to two men dressed all in black with black helmets, as they attempt to mount their getaway bike
A brave member of the public wearing a brown jacket starts striking at their getaway bike, forcing the thieves to run away
User Sabji Hunter posted the video to X, formerly known as Twitter , showing the attempted theft taking place in broad daylight.
Several users applauded the brave members of the public for seeing off the thieves, with one writing: 'This is what I like to see. Good on them. One for all and all for one!'
Another wrote: 'Well done, good to see there is hope yet for London.'
However, one user highlighted to others not to attempt to do the same for their own personal safety.
They wrote: 'That's quite irresponsible, they could have got hurt. The best thing to do is to call the police.'
The crowd watches as one thief yells at his companion to 'run' and the pair escape off down a nearby alleyway
According to Statista, a bicycle was stolen every seven minutes in England and Wales last year, amounting to more than 77,000 thefts.
But a survey by Cycling UK suggested the figure could be as high as 237,000.
New figures published last month also show that daytime thefts have reached a four-year record high.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed nearly half of bike thefts (46 percent) took place in the morning or afternoon.
The data, published in the annual British Crime Survey, is compared with a previous high of 41 percent in 2020.
