AN initiative to thwart bike thieves was launched at a Teesside school yesterday.

Hartlepool police officers began distributing 5,000 special logbooks to primary school children and other members of the public in an effort to reduce the number of unsolved bike thefts.

The logbooks will be used to record details including the bike's make/model, colour, frame size and frame number.

It is hoped they will deter thieves and also make it easier for the police to identify the owner when a stolen bike is recovered.

The information entered on the logbooks returned to Hartlepool Borough Council's road safety officer Paul Watson will be stored on a computer database.

People who return logbooks will have their names entered in a draw and could win one of a number of prizes, including locks and helmets supplied by Halfords and a sophisticated bicycle security kit provided by Datatag.

Mr Watson said: "I'd like to thank everyone who is supporting this initiative including the Hartlepool Crime Prevention Panel which has given £300 to fund the scheme and the companies that have contributed draw prizes."

PC Colin Stainthorpe, crime prevention officer, said: "At this time of the year, shed and garage burglaries tend to increase and lots of bikes are stolen, so this initiative should prove extremely useful."

For more information about the scheme, which was launched at the West View Primary School in Hartlepool, call Mr Watson on (01429) 523590 or PC Stainthorpe on (01429) 405578.