Motorcycle manufacturers attended a summit at City Hall yesterday where the Mayor will tell them it is vital that they help defeat motorcycle-related crime – which includes mopeds and scooters – in the capital by designing anti-theft measures into their vehicles.

Last year* there were over 14,000 thefts of motorcycles in London and 23,430 crimes were committed using motorcycles in the capital – an average of 64 a day and a 163 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Representatives from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW and Piaggio have been invited to meet with the Metropolitan Police, MOPAC, the Motorcycle Industry Association and Secure by Design at City Hall today. During the meeting the Mayor will strongly emphasise the importance of manufacturers taking responsibility for their customers and the safety of all Londoners and taking action to help ‘design out’ motorcycle -related offences.

The Mayor has tasked manufacturers with improving the design of new motorcycles to make them more difficult to steal. He would also like to see a range of short-term actions introduced to tackle the problem in existing models, such as retrofitting security devices and closer collaboration between manufacturers and the Met on the Be Safe campaign, launched to raise awareness with scooter riders of what they can do to reduce the risk of their vehicle being stolen.