A POLICE report has warned that organised criminal gangs are stealing £3 million worth of motorbikes in the UK every month. In the first report of its kind, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) identifies London, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands as the three worst hotspots.

The figures, released at the end of last year, show that more high performance bikes are stolen each month than are bought new and that only 16% of them are ever recovered.

Evidence suggests thieves operate in teams, using small lengths of scaffolding pole through the wheels of a bike to lift it into the back of a van. Steve Powell, of the NCIS Organised Vehicle Crime Section, said: 'It is an important statistic that more motorcycles are stolen in the UK than are bought new.

'These people have been operating up and down the country for some time. They have got the resources to disperse them, they have their networks and there is a ready market.'

A total of 600 bikes go missing each month, according to figures released for 2001.