Liverpool is Britain's most honest city... and surprise, surprise London is the worst
It's in the Daily Mail, so it must be true...
Liverpool is Britain's most honest city and London is the worst, according to an experiment which tested the honesty of people across the UK.
In an experiment designed to test the honesty of recession-hit Britons, researchers planted bikes across the country's cities and tested how long it was before they was stolen.
The experiment, conducted across 10 UK cities, saw unsecured bicycles left in high footfall locations.
The bicycles were then left and researchers timed how long it was before they were wheeled away by opportunistic thieves.
And according to the figures it seems Liverpool has come top of the honesty table with thieves waiting four hours to steal a bike.
The finding compares to just 17 minutes in London where a bike was stolen in 17 minutes.
The London and Liverpool figures fall way below and above the national average of two hours and 22 minutes.
Bike theft is a growing problem for all cyclists as Conservative leader David Cameron can testify, having had two bicycles stolen in the last year.
The number of bikes stolen from UK streets has now risen to an estimated 300,000 annually which is every 105 seconds, according to the research by insurance giant More Th<n.
With commuters looking for cheaper travel options due to the recession, bicycle sales have risen by 22 per cent and with June marking the beginning of the busiest period for bike theft.
More Th<n researchers also found only five per cent of stolen bikes are ever recovered with the average one costing more than £200.
In total, bike thieves are costing the nation in excess of £62 million every year.
Peter Markey, Marketing Director for the company said: 'The experiment was designed to raise awareness about the growing problem of bike theft and also to help us identify cities where there is a particularly high risk.
'Naturally we don't recommend anyone leave their bike unsecured and the experiment proves that, no matter where you live, without proper security it's just a matter of time until your bike is snatched.'
City Time taken to steal bike
Liverpool, Matthew St. 3 hours 52 minutes
Bristol, Bedminster area 3 hours 15 minutes
Manchester, Arndale Shopping Centre 2 hours 57 minutes
Newcastle, Eldon Shopping Centre 2 hours 25 minutes
Portsmouth, Southsea area 2 hours 12 minutes
Cardiff, Capitol Shopping Mall 2 hours 10 minutes
Birmingham, The Rag Market 1 hour 55 minutes
Glasgow, Buchanan Street 1 hour 30 minutes
London, London Bridge Station 17 minutes
* National Average: 2 hours 22 minutes
Originally Posted by I am a Ghost
that's hilarious. I suppose this does something to prove the north/south crime thing is a myth. They probably didn't take into account population in given area etc though. I wonder what the daily mail have in store next, honest and integral journalism? 
