Sheffield yellow bike spotted 23 miles away in Doncaster

The Ofo bike was spotted being ridden outside Doncaster railway station by a group of youths.

Launched in the city with a fleet of 1,000 bikes and the company's first in the north of England, the scheme allows users to download a free app to locate and unlock a nearby bike, which then charges 50p per half hour to use.

But numerous bikes have been smashed, stolen and dumped - and this week five were spotted trashed in the same Sheffield street. In another incident, a bike was found with a wheel ripped off.

One man also reported seeing a pick-up truck 'overflowing' with the OFO bikes being driven out of Sheffield one morning early last week and feared the bikes have now been melted down for scrap.

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

But in Sheffield there have been numerous reports of bikes having locks smashed off them, being dumped in canals and rivers and being used by people as their own private bikes after having lock mechanisms removed.

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. “

"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.”