Half of all cycle thefts take place in the City of Hamilton -- and half of these are from the City Hall car park.

That was the claim by BF&M Insurance company in a recent notice to policy holders based on last year's claims statistics.

"This 1994 figure shows five bikes a day are being stolen from law abiding citizens,'' the brochure claims. "50% of all cycle thefts happen in the City of Hamilton. Of these thefts, 50% take place at the City Hall parking lots.'' In a series of recent meetings spearheaded by the Police, Acting Police Commissioner Mr. Alec Forbes discussed with insurance companies, the Corporation of Hamilton and the Chamber of Commerce, ways of tackling the problem.

The meetings, held at the request of BF&M and Colonial Insurance, which insure the vast majority of bikes on the Island, discussed ways of creating an enclosed "safe area'' with fencing and surveillance cameras.

"They (surveillance cameras) have been attracting a lot of attention but how it will be done is being looked at,'' said Corporation of Hamilton chairman Mr. Roger Sherratt. "Something has to be done to combat the problem.'' But he said it was unlikely the Corporation would be responsible for the cost of buying, maintaining or supervising the equipment.

"Cycle theft is a national problem -- not a Corporation problem even though we are involved in the discussions,'' he said.

He added that if the public spent more time locking their bikes, theft would be greatly reduced.

Fewer than five percent of bikes parked at City Hall at any one time are locked to steel bars installed by the Corporation, he claimed. And he estimated that 70 percent of bikes were not properly locked at all.

When asked if the Corporation would install the bars elsewhere in Hamilton, Mr. Sherratt said it was unlikely.

"There is no point in providing tools to lock vehicles if people refuse to lock them. We have to persuade people that the situation is a serious one,'' he said.

Last week, Police announced 2,536 cycles were removed last year, almost twice the number in 1993.

Of 155 people arrested, two thirds were aged between ten and 19 years old.