There has been a spectacular rise in the theft of electric bikes – up 38% according to the biggest bike insurance company ANWB.

In total, ANWB clients reported over 3,800 thefts last year, costing the organisation’s insurance arm ‘millions of euros’, spokesman Bert Gelling told the AD.

Nevertheless, the thefts only account for a small proportion of e-bikes on the Dutch roads. Last year 420,000 new e-bikes were bought in the Netherlands and they now account for the biggest segment in bicycle sales.

A spokesman for Enra, another major bike insurance company, reports similar figures, the AD said. ‘Ordinary bikes are targeted by opportunists, but e-bikes are being stolen by organised gangs,’ the spokesman told the paper.

Bikes which have been fitted with a transmitter are much more likely to be recovered than those without, the figures show.

According to some estimates, 80% of e-bikes with a gps tracing system are found – as long as the theft is reported straight away. In terms of ordinary bikes, just 5% are ever recovered.