Cycle parking at Oxford Station

[whole diary]

[81F]

I parked my bike at Oxford station last Friday, 6/12/13, prior to taking the train to Norwich for a weekend away. I returned Monday 9/12/13 and found attached to my handlebars a laminated plastic notice :

04/12/2013
Your bike has been left at Oxford Railway Station for a significant amount of time. You have parked your bike in a location which has a high number of bike thefts. Any bikes left at Oxford Railway station with one of these tags attached on MONDAY JANUARY 27th 2014 will be removed and will become property of First Great Western Oxford Railway Station.
[BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) crest]    [First logo]


I am a bit puzzled about the purpose of this.
(1)  I know how long my bicycle was left at the station -- 3 and a half days.  As far as I know there is no limit.
(2)  I know it is in an area with a high number of bike thefts. But if one is catching a train the station is a good place to leave one's bike. Are they trying to frighten me off doing so in future?
(3)  I know that the cycle park gets filled up with abandoned bikes, which need clearing away from time to time. Abandoned bikes are quite easily recognised by bent wheels, or rusty or missing chains.
(4)  I guess it's in the bye-laws somewhere that the railway may impound abandoned cycles or vehicles - but can they / do they become the property of First Great Western Oxford Railway Station.

Is this standard procedure at all stations on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)? And is the weird wording and inconsistent capitalisation also standard, or is this an instance of someone at Oxford showing off their command of logic and language?   

[Fourbee]

The notice would also alert a potential thief that the owner may not be likely to come back quickly.

[ChrisB]

I've just asked the Station Manager at Oxford to comment on this post....I'll post his reply if he's happy for me to do so.

[ChrisB]

Blimey, answer already.....!

Firstly any bikes that are removed from cycle storage for whatever reason are held by ourselves or in storage elsewhere for at least 6 weeks - this is to ensure if a bike has been removed incorrectly it is returned to its owner.

And clearly we give quite a bit of notice through the tags prior to removal.

When bikes are not claimed they either get recycled or go to local charities for their benefit.

With limited cycle parking it is an on going challenge to ensure maximum availability in our storage areas. The customer is right there is no time limit. However the cycle parking is for rail users only, at least its meant to be. We do have an issue with cyclists from the university leaving bikes for weeks on end.

The idea of tagging bikes isn't to cause offence or upset but to give fair warning. In this instance perhaps we could of improved by not being so quick to tag a bike only there for a few days.

- I'm happy for you to rejig and reword any part of this as you see fit

No alterations made - posted as it was typed on his BlackBerry!

[IanL]

Last friday was the end of term for the university, so lots of bikes left at the station for the long holiday, they usually do a round of notices around then.I guess a lot of students leave them and forget where they have left them!