Bumbling Boris Johnson said he wanted to encourage a culture of have-a-go heroes in order to tackle bike theft.

The Conservative MP made the comments during a visit to a Wandsworth Young Offending Team (YOT) project which sees offenders fix cycles which are then passed on to the victims of bike thieves.

The visit on Friday was part of Mr Johnson's campaign to become London's Mayor which will see the 43-year-old visit each of the capital's boroughs.

Mr Johnson said: "I want a culture in this country where people when they see a bike being ripped off on the street they actually say oi'. In this country nobody bats an eyelid. They can see a person with bolt cutters taking someone else's bike and nobody does a thing because they don't want to interfere.

"I want to change that, I want people to feel they can interfere."

But a Met Police spokesman said: "Our advice to members of the public is that if they see a crime being committed they should telephone 999 and think of their own personal safety. Personal safety is paramount."

Mr Johnson, who explained he had been a victim himself with seven bikes stolen in seven years, heaped praise on the project saying it benefited both the community and helped rehabilitate offenders.

"It's about time someone did something for the victims of bike theft. A completely forgotten minority," he said.

Theft victim, Kemi Spear, who explained she was gutted when her bike was stolen, attended the project to collect a new one.

"I feel a lot better about the theft but I really don't want this bike to be stolen as it's a really nice bike," she said.

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