St Albans railway station has the highest number of bike thefts in the UK, new figures have revealed.

Over the last three years, a total of 262 bicycles have been stolen from the station - which is more than any other in the UK.

Although St Albans has the highest number of bike thefts, in 2018 this equated to one theft per every 100,000 visitors.

Harpenden station has had 116 pushbikes snatched over the past three years, making it the 12th highest in the UK list of 1,026 stations.

Radlett has had only eight bikes stolen in the last three years - ranking 501st in the list.

The figures have been released by British Transport Police and are from the start of April 2016 to the end of March 2019, broken down by each financial year.

With more and more people wanting to reduce their carbon footprint and the cost of commuting, cycling is becoming a more popular choice of travel to and from stations.

Among stations which have released data about the number of secure spaces for bikes it has, St Albans has the second highest with 1,150 spaces - behind only Cambridge. Harpenden has 548 spaces, while Radlett has 100.

Father-of-two Jason Wills, 50, from St Albans had his £450 hybrid bike stolen from the station. He locked it up one morning and, when he returned in the evening, the lock had been cut by thieves with wire cutters.

The bike was a birthday present from his wife and Jason had also been using it to fundraise for children with diabetes.

Reflecting on the incident, he said: "I just don't trust the security at the station and I don't want to leave my bike there."

A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink, which owns St Albans station, said: "As part of our commitment to boost sustainable travel, we have installed many more bike racks to encourage more people to cycle.

"We have been hugely successful at St Albans, which is relatively small and yet has the second most bike racks for any station in the country. As a percentage of the number of people travelling through St Albans, the rate of bike theft is low. It ranks 213th in the UK list.

"However, we recognise the issue and will be creating more secure cycle facilities with improved lighting and CCTV as part of our £5m upgrade of the station."