I have been cycling to work for 5 years and in that time I have always parked my bike in the store room in which stores literature. This room is lon and narrrow with a wide bit at one end where I put mu bike.

A few others have now started to cycle to work which is starting to fill up the room and management has stated that the bikes need to be removed from there and parked outside. I have stated that there is nothing outsiide to lock the bike to, to which their defense is that they are not obliged to provide secure cycle parking.

What has really annoyed me about the whole things is 2 months ago they were complaining that there was too many cars in the car park FFS!!

So, what can I do if anything to stop us having to lock the bikes outside?

Would 'Custom and Practice' under employment law stack up, i.e. I have always parked my bike in the stock room, there for it is my right to continue to do so?

You could try arguing custom and practice but its not a case I would like to argue as the management side will say it was never authorised.

If its a big company they might have some "green" policies you could argue that they are not meeting or they might have some commuting / cycling statement to help your case. There was some cycle friendly employer scheme being promoted IIRC.

No other space in the building? Under the stairs/ basement whatever?

Leave a car in the car park and store your bike in it…

lock em all up in front of MD's car

Get a big cheap van between you and park it in the car park for storage….

Somewhere else nearby you can lock it up?

a wheelie bin is the nearest thing but it is out of site, but that gets emptied twice a week and we have been told we cant use that cos it is incovinent for the bin men, which I agree with as it slows them down doing their job.

The irony is the company has an ISO 14001 certificate to show that it has an evironmental policy!

The MD is all for the cycling inititive and understands the benefits of cycling to work – it is just the local fu*kwit site manager has a grudge against cyclists for some reason.

check the environmental policy for something to use as ammo – and escalate it to the MD if you don't care about making enemies

i'd bolt my own keith lemon style securipole in front of the site managers car.

There's a concidence. We had an e-mail today at work, bikes and motorbikes being parked in the workshop are to be put in the bikeshed in future (which has no racking) Stupid thing is that it's almost excusively the maintenance team that ride their bikes to work and was the site chemist who drives to work and never goes in the building that brought it up!

Wish I'd been to that safety meeting, could have nipped it in the bud.