Sheffield's bike graveyard: FIVE yellow bikes found trashed in same spot

The five yellow bikes were found dumped and smashed up in Page Hall.

Scores of the distinctive yellow OFO bikes have been smashed up and dumped across the city since the scheme launched in January - but this picture appears to show one of the biggest acts of destruction yet.

PICTURES: Yellow bikes spotted SIX MILES from Sheffield city centre

The five bikes were found dumped near an electricity substation in Wade Street, Page Hall - and the site has been dubbed 'an OFO graveyard' by the passer by who spotted the bikes broken and abandoned.

The photographer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "This is a constant reminder of how things are down here.

"Yet what you see is only a small representation of the whole story - there are literally dozens being ridden about with the lock and meter broken off.

"It must be costing OFO a fortune in lost, stolen and damaged bikes round here alone.

"Some have even been crudely resprayed while others have just been smashed up.

The wheels of the bikes have been twisted by vandals.

"You see many of the local youths riding them - not one has the meter still attached."

The scheme was launched in Sheffield in January but has been plagued by vandalism, with scores of bikes dumped in local canals, rivers and even trees with many bikes being vanadalised.

In a separate incident, another bike was left badly smashed up in Woodhouse.

In a separate incident, another bike was found smashed up in Woodhouse.

The scheme launched with a fleet of 1,000 bikes - and is the company's first in the north of England.

Users download a free app to locate and unlock a nearby bike, which then charges 50p per half hour to use.

The scheme has already successfully launched in Cambridge, Oxford, London and Norwich.

OFO spokesman Adam Rose said: “We've been operating successfully in Sheffield for many months and local reaction to the scheme has been hugely positive. There has inevitably been a small amount of misuse of our bikes, but levels of vandalism are low.

“All of our bikes are GPS tracked and where there are any issues we have a dedicated team of marshals that is able to respond quickly. We have already dispatched a marshal to retrieve the bikes in question.

“The vast majority of our fleet in Sheffield is being used in a responsible and considerate manner, and we would never allow the actions of minority to ruin the scheme for Sheffield.”

Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police said it would not be collecting vandalised bikes reported to them.