Nextbike has announced a temporary suspension of the Ovo Bike scheme in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, with the company stating the removal is due to "months of vandalism, thefts and threats" against its team in Cardiff.

The scheme launched its Cardiff fleet in 2018, aiming to provide sustainable and affordable transport across the city. Then in 2020, Nextbike launched in the Vale of Glamorgan fleet.

In that time, the scheme has attracted almost 136,000 customers who have clocked up more than 1.2 million rentals.

While the scheme has proved popular, with 3 million km covered in that time, over 300 bikes have been stolen since their introduction, and a further 260 were scrapped due to irreparable damage caused by vandalism, examples of which include bikes being set on fire, snapped in half, or even dumped into rivers.

The total number of stolen or vandalised bikes amounts to over half of the Cardiff fleet of 1030, and now, Nextbike warn that, should there not be an improvement when the fleets are returned early next year, there is the potential to permanently close the service down.

Krysia Solheim, nextbike UK Managing Director, said: "The amount of vandalism and theft that we have seen is simply staggering and not something we've experienced to the same extent anywhere else in the UK."

"Our teams simply cannot keep up with the level of damage and theft being carried out.

"We are temporarily removing bikes while we repair those that can be repaired and investigate what safeguards are in place around our bike stations - for example CCTV and street lighting - and how this can be improved. We will be readjusting the network to move stations to safer areas where needed. We will also be providing our staff with body cameras for their own protection.

"Our schemes help to reduce congestion and CO2 emissions, so it's especially heartbreaking to be doing this during COP26, when the eyes of the world are on the UK as leaders look to agree on climate change solutions. Cardiff Council, Vale of Glamorgan Council, South Wales Police and our sponsor, OVO Energy have been incredibly supportive partners throughout this difficult time and, with their help, we're also looking at ways of engaging with the wider community to help us prevent the problems.

"It's a very small minority causing most of the damage. We've identified the groups responsible and are working with the police and local authorities to engage with them to deter such behaviour in the future. The private investigation firm we recently tasked with monitoring our bike docks in the Cardiff area, successfully recovered 16 lost/stolen bikes over a two-day period. They were shocked by the behaviours they witnessed.

"While it points to a wider social issue, we cannot let this small minority ruin it for the tens of thousands of loyal OVO Bike customers we have in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. We know the vandalism has affected the service for our customers, especially over the last few months, and we'd like to apologise for this because we know people rely on the scheme to get around.

"We've always seen our bike share schemes as belonging to the local community - and when the fleets are relaunched, we'll need the community's support more than ever. We need people to be our eyes and ears, and to report damage, abandoned bikes or suspicious activity whenever they see it.

"The bikes will be back on the streets early next year, but if vandalism and theft continue at this rate, we will have no other choice but to pull the scheme permanently or significantly reduce the current network."

Ms Solheim went on to detail how nextbike staff had even been threatened when trying to recover bikes.

Recent incidents include an employee being urinated on and another being chased by someone with a shovel when trying to recover a bike:

"The team is made up of local people who live and work in Cardiff and Vale," he said.

"It is totally unacceptable that they should be treated in this way. Our schemes employ 17 local people - that's 17 people who will be out of a job if we're forced to withdraw the schemes. This cannot be allowed to happen.

"We really want the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan schemes to continue. We are currently recruiting for roles within the scheme, so it is certainly not our intention to close the schemes if we can avoid it, but we need to see a drastic change in people's behaviour for the schemes to remain viable. We will be continuing to install additional electric stations throughout the shutdown, which will add more density in Cardiff and extend the electric scheme beyond Penarth in the Vale."