Brighton bike hangar damaged as council says it will be replaced ‘soon’

The bike locker, one of many being installed across the city, appeared to have been damaged as there were still bikes in the storage room.

Brighton and Hove City Council now says the locker in Norfolk Square has been removed and a replacement will be delivered “soon”.

Laura King, who has campaigned against the bike hangars since their introduction last year, said: “It appeared as if a heavy weight had been dropped on top, forcing the flip-up lid to buckle and down to open.

“Good to see this hangar vanished from Norfolk Square today leaving two stolen residential parking spaces behind.”

After hearing about the damaged hangar, Ms King traveled to Norfolk Square to find that the hangar had been removed.

The hangar had previously been sited next to the plaza, with some local residents arguing that it occupied two parking spaces for cars.

Bike hangars were first introduced by the Council in 2022 to store bikes outside.

The secure hangars, which are about the length of a small car, can hold up to six bikes each and cost around £1 a week.

Opponents of the warehouse solution have argued that the hangars occupy resident parking spaces and are unsafe.

The space previously occupied by the bike hangar (Image: Laura King)

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “This is a very unfortunate incident. Our contractor picked up the damaged hangar today and will be delivering a replacement soon.

“At this point it is unclear what caused the damage but our contractor believes a large vehicle may have hit it.

“We’re checking to see if there’s video footage from surveillance cameras that could help pinpoint the cause.

“Before we removed the hangar, our contractor contacted the residents whose bikes were there. To our understanding, no bikes were stolen or damaged.”

The council had previously committed to adding more hangars in the new year after existing spaces quickly filled. The new hangars would bring the total number of storage spaces up to 900 bikes.