A BUSINESSMAN has voiced his growing concern about an “epidemic of bike thefts” after having four of his bicycles stolen in the past year.

Stephen Freedman, 43, spoke of his shock after his fourth bike, a Giant mountain bike worth around £2,000, was stolen in broad daylight from the cycle rack outside King Alfred leisure centre in Kingsway, Hove.

Mr Freedman, of Holland Road, Hove, locked his bike up outside the leisure centre on Sunday, September 17, but within an hour his bike was gone.

The IT support business owner said: “I think this must be the work of professional bike thieves as the lock I used was very good and the CCTV camera outside the leisure centre was pointing right at the bike rack.

“This is huge problem for the large number of cyclists in this city. Two of the thefts of my bikes actually happened just this month.

“I rely on my bike for my job as well as for personal use, so these thefts have not only affected me personally but also professionally too.

“The last three incidents I reported to the police, who have been helpful and provided me with crime reference numbers to keep me up to date.

“I just felt like the police wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

“The first two I had stolen were of a lower value than the most recent two.

“The Giant bike was not visible from the street. I asked the leisure centre to look at their CCTV but they said the camera was really slow and they needed an IT guy to help.

“I did offer to look at the footage but when they got back to me a few days later they told me there was no recording on the camera.”

The Argus revealed earlier this month that bicycle thefts in the city have risen by more than 60 per cent in a year.

In August, 135 bike thefts in the city were reported to Sussex Police.

In August last year, crime map data showed there were 82 bike thefts, meaning the figure has risen by 64.6 per cent.

Mr Freedman added: “There are a lot of expensive bikes being stolen. If it was a car more would be done.

“What I would like to see is some sting operations being carried out by the police.”

A spokeswoman for Freedom Leisure, which operates King Alfred leisure centre, said: "We are extremely sorry that a customer of King Alfred has been a victim of bike theft while using the centre.

"Cameras cover the entire centre including the area where the bike was left, however only upon trying to retrieve the footage did it become apparent that there is a fault with the hard drive.

"Although all cameras were working perfectly, some footage from a small number of them could not be retrieved that day.

"We have assisted the police with this matter and the faulty hard drive is being replaced immediately."

A police spokeswoman said: “Lines of enquiry are currently being followed into this theft.

“If you witnessed any suspicious behaviour in this area please report online or call 101.”