Efforts to combat bike theft seem to be working, with police reporting a 10% drop in stolen bike reports last year, the Telegraaf said on Friday.

In total, 96,507 bikes were reported stolen in 2016, and so far this year there has been a further 15% drop, the paper said.

‘Of course, the true figure is three to four times as high, but these figures do show things are moving in the right direction,’ Titus Visser, head of vehicle crime prevention group AVC told the paper.

The police have been using decoy bikes fitted with tracking technology plus extra surveillance at notorious bike theft spots in an effort to catch more bike thieves. This has resulted in 1,000 arrests, Visser said.

In addition, more people are using two locks to secure their bikes, which makes it harder for thieves.

There are, however, wide regional variations. In the Limburg and Zeeland, thefts have gone down by well over 20% while in Rotterdam they have risen by nearly a quarter. ‘This shows the city council should intensify its efforts,’ Visser said.