Cyclists are warned that the police will steal their bike locks. Make sure you insist on receipts for anything they take, along with full documentation of the search and reasons for it. If the police do take your lock and your bike ends up being stolen on the way home, do remember to sue the f**kers. Forewarned, you may as well find a place to lock up your bike locks out of sight a couple of miles from the camp or you'll probably not see them again.
"Took us 10 hours to climate camp. Bike route 1 very bendy and narrow, mostly sharing with pedestrians, often disappearing, very badly sign posted. gravel with big stones and gates to stop cars are very difficult to pass with bike, impossible to pass with panniers unless with help, slowly and none by one, impossible to pass a trailer. Gravel and stones fuck wheels. In the end we had to use main roads, 'use lights'. Got stop/searched and confiscated all our D-locks, no return. Locals usually helpful but avoid pubs."
Police are also stealing tools which is going to make setting up pretty difficult. Don't bring what wont be needed and if having read this article you think something you will need will be confiscated then hide it well.
One person sorting out electrics and comms on site said, "Cops searched us and took snips, knives and crimper's off me. Need some more crimpers". Looks like we'll be stripping wires with our teeth and using nut crackers to crimp connections.
According to the camp media team's press release this morning, at least some two way radios have be taken by police. They also seem to have a thing about marker pens and even childrens crayons. Legal observers also noted that vans being searched lost items such as inflatable toys and duct tape.
Some of this might seem pretty random (and certainly illegal).They are clearly going way beyond the remit of articles that could be used to cause criminal damage when taking walkie talkies, water pipes, construction wood, and board games but the cops are basically taking things that might vaguely be used in any form of action be it lock-ons, raft making, graffiti, cutting fences or hijacking aircraft armed only with a crimping tool.
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