The curious story of the man who has backyard stash of bicycles so big it can be seen on Google Earth

3 min read

1 year ago Robin

A man in Oxfordshire, England, is investigated for a pile of over 500 bicycles in his backyard. A so big loot that can literally shows up on Google Earth!

The 54-year-old man was arrested earlier this month after people in his neighborhood started complaining that his bicycle-filled backyard had become a breeding ground for rats. However, when authorities stopped by the his home, they expected to find a few bicycles…and not as many as 500 of them piled on top of each other!
The heap of old bikes has apparently been growing at a steady pace for over 5 years, and it has now gotten so big that it can be seen on Google Earth satellite imagery.

“A large number of bicycles, believed to be stolen, have been recovered from the property. Officers are currently in the process of identifying ownership of these bicycles,” a police spokesperson recently told.

Many wonder how the 54-year-old could ammas this many bikes without raising suspicion from the neighbors, while others joked that the man must have some 200 children to need that many bicycles.

“Cracks me up no one spotted it sooner. Surely you’d think it suspicious to have a garden overflowing with bikes?” one person commented.

“Did the neighbors not think it strange…?” someone else wondered.

However, one of the man’s neighbors said that she had been filing complaints about the issue for years, but that nothing had been done about it. Apparently, bikes have been brought to the property by the van-load for years, both at nighttime and during the day.

“I started reporting his festering collection of bikes four years ago, but it’s been going on for about five years,” 53-year-old Colleen Butler said. “I made the first report because the amount of bikes was just ridiculous. There must have been at least 500 of them. When I spoke to him he said they were going to be sent to Africa for needy kids but, as you can see, they never went to Africa.”

She added that, a few years ago, nearly 170 bicycles were removed from the property on Giles Road, before being returned shortly after. She claims that many in the neighborhood have been complaining about the bike heap being an eye-sore, it being a rat breeding ground and bringing down the value of their properties, but many are apparently too afraid to speak out.

“I’ve had conversations with him but everything he tells you doesn’t come true. He lives in cloud-cuckoo land,” the woman said. “Three years ago my dad got me a dog for my protection, I was so scared. I feel like the only person fighting him.”

The owner of the property, whose name has not been revealed for privacy reasons, has apparently been released, but the investigation is ongoing.
It is not yet clear if the bicycles are stolen, as originally thought, or if the man has simply been hoarding them….