Cambridge has been dubbed the UK’s “bike theft capital” following the news that almost 2,500 bicycles are stolen in the city every year.

One bicycle is stolen in Cambridge every three-and-a-half hours, according to a report by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Community Safety Partnership.

The report stated that 2,486 bicycles were stolen between September 2008 and August 2009, showing an increase of 8 per cent on the previous year.

The news follows the theft of supermodel and Cambridge student Lily Cole’s £600 Pashley Princess Sovereign bicycle last week.

The History of Art student condemned the railway station’s overflowing bike racks as “a cesspit of cycles”, saying that she would never leave her bicycle there as it would be “in so much danger”.

James Woodburn from Cambridge Cycling Campaign, echoed Cole’s concerns: “We still have far too few bike stands in the city centre – we need more racks outside pubs, bars, shops and doctors’ surgeries.  The situation is particularly poor at the station and I would be very hesitant to park a valuable bike there.”

He added: "I think many of the bike thefts are by drug addicts and alcoholics, who find it very easy to cut through cheap locks, but I'm quite sure there are organised gangs stealing more valuable bikes too."

But Clare Rankin, Cycling Walking Officer at Cambridge City Council, told Varsity that the report painted an unjust picture of bicycle safety in Cambridge.

She said: “Cambridge has by far the highest number of cyclists in the country.  One in four cycle to work, not to mention all the students.  Cambridge has, per kilometre travelled, the highest safety record and the lowest number of casualties.  We probably have got the highest theft rate, but we’ve got the most cyclists.”

The City Council has recently spent £3.6million to promote cycling in the city and to research new routes and locations for bicycle racks.

Rankin told Varsity:  “It’s a big issue of space.  We are putting more cycle racks in.  It’s very difficult to find space in the city centre which won’t, if you put more racks in, cause an obstruction to pedestrians.  We’re hoping to put some more in, for example, on the carriageway on King’s Parade and in Free School Lane.”

She advises students to use the two cycle parks in the Grand Arcade and on Park Street, adding that they are “the largest free cycle parks in the country”.

Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence described bicycle theft in the city as a “scandal”, and has launched a crime prevention campaign urging bike owners to “Lock it or Lose it”.

The issue will be discussed further by city councillors on January 18.