LIKE the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, we enjoyed the irony of the police having three of their own mountain bikes stolen from right under their noses in their own police station (LET, January 20).

As they have been kind enough to let cyclists from the Cycling Campaign for East Lancashire to use the same small shed at Northgate police station, I would like to offer them some advice on security.

1. Always use a quality U-lock, not a "chain," as reported in the LET.

2. Use modern stands which support the bike's frame - as opposed to just pinching the wheels - and which can be u-locked to the frame.

3. Unless the shed is itself secure - closed and locked - all bikes should be locked in highly visible locations where prospective thieves would be spotted and hence deterred.

I am afraid that the police seem to have failed on all three points - and it does not altogether surprise me after having been told last year that cycle theft is not treated as one of their priorities.

CyCEL is happy to advise any shop, business or school on cycle parking, as we did for Waves, Blackburn Central Library (installed back to front, alas!) and Witton Park High School. At Witton, pupils' bikes are even protected by security cameras.

We have also designed an adaptor, the 'Blackburn Block,' which is attached to many of the bollards in Blackburn town centre. Unfortunately, they are so discreet and, hence, invisible, except to those in the know, that very few cyclists have discovered them.

ROBIN FIELD, CyCEL (Blackburn), Livingstone Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.