Man has bank card stolen from locker at popular Aylesbury gym

A man had his bank card stolen from his locker at a popular gym in Aylesbury town centre.

While at The Gym Group in Aylesbury, the man had his bank card taken from his bag on 3 December.

He had failed to lock away his belongings, making it easier for the offenders to make off with his debit card.

Since reporting the card missing to his bank and tracing the transactions made immediately after it was stolen, the victim believes he has a good idea as to who took his wallet.

The man discovered the first transaction on Saturday evening was at Abi Town Centre Store.

He visited the shop and after reviewing CCTV footage with the shop’s manager came to the conclusion that the offenders could be four youths seen conversing and making a purchase with what appeared to be the victim’s debit card.

This information was brought to management at the Aylesbury gym, but the victim does not believe enough was done to assist him in banning the potential culprits.

He criticised the gym manager for only jotting down the description of one of the would-be offenders rather than all four alleged culprits, and not immediately reviewing CCTV footage in a 20-minute window in which the victim is certain his card was stolen.

He accused the gym of “victim-blaming”, by dismissing its responsibility in this instance due to the fact the locker was unlocked.

Gym Group denies this, stating it conducted a full review into the incident, and under GDPR regulation the gym states it cannot share CCTV footage with its members.

Also Gym Group policy is to follow the lead of the authorities in matters of theft and at present no police contact has been made in regards to this case.

A Gym Group spokesman said: "We were very sorry to hear about this member’s experience in one of our gyms. We encourage members to use our lockers with personal locks, and have padlocks available to buy in our gyms, to safeguard their personal belongings. We will continue to provide support to our member and assist with any police investigation into this incident.”

The victim did not report the matter to the police, but instead contacted Action Fraud after cancelling the card with his bank.

He hopes Action Fraud will arrange for local police to investigate the matter.

Pauline Smith, head of Action Fraud, told The Bucks Herald: “Action Fraud can confirm the incident has been recorded on our system as an information report. An information report can be made when a fraud has not been committed but has been attempted, or there is suspicion of criminal intent. An information report is also made if somebody is reporting a fraud on behalf of a victim or a person is the victim of identity theft.”

The victim says he has been a member of the gym located in Aylesbury town centre from day one, signing up when it opened in 2015 under a different name.

And is concerned that the people who stole from him can still access the gym.