.

[mjr]

Surely a ne'er-do-well could book a slot for his virtual bike, open the pod with the app on his (stolen) phone, park his virtual bike and angle grind himself a real bike -

They could, but it'd be easy to see who opened the hanger's electronic lock when the bike was nicked, there'll be traceable payment info and maybe CCTV or other counter-measures. There's probably far easier targets without the tracking.

Both the bike owner and the hanger operator should have insurance, too.

Are there any public statistics about the London council hangers?

 

[Dadam]

Bike "hangar", based on the concept of the building for housing aircraft, as opposed to "hanger", something on which you hang things.

 

[mjr]

Bike "hangar", based on the concept of the building for housing aircraft, as opposed to "hanger", something on which you hang things.

Flipping autocorrect!