CYCLE cops have made 150 arrests across Essex in the last year.

The officers have been out on their bikes as part of the force’s Operation Velo, which saw officers clock up 100,000 miles on their beats.

The idea was to return to the good old days where officers could regularly be seen pedalling the streets.

Among the success of the officers was arresting thieves who stole lead from church roofs and a burglar who had evaded capture for five days.

The police cyclists made more than 1,500 stop checks since the operation was launched on May 1, 2010.

They also filed 500 intelligence reports to CID to help bolster their investigations, but they cost just £7,845 to run.

Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle said their work equated to spending £15,653 on a patrol car for the year.

In a report to Essex Police Authority’s Performance Committee, he said: “The use of cycles is not only cheaper than vehicles, but has also been shown to be very effective in terms of crime reduction and offender management.”

The biggest success the cycle cops had was when PCSO John Walker followed a man who attempted to use a stolen cheque at Cash Converters in Orsett Road, Grays. He managed to keep up with the suspect thanks to his bike while giving directions over the radio to officers.

It led to the arrest of a 32-year-old man for attempted theft on October 22 last year, who they later found was on a warrant for being an illegal immigrant.

Plans are now afoot to re-launch Operation Velo in April and may set-up extra cycle teams.

The officers may also be used at the 2012 Olympics in Hadleigh to patrol the mountain biking events.