Dumped bikes, bicycles to be cleared from Athens sidewalks

As part of its bid to free up public space, the City of Athens is pressing forward with plans to remove more than 800 abandoned bicycles and motorbikes from the streets and sidewalks of the capital.

Some of the bikes have been recorded by the municipality's sanitation and recycling department, others by members of the municipal police and others still reported by citizens.

City Hall's aim is to clear 500 of them from the streets over the next month and the remainder in subsequent weeks. Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis referred to a "major and continuing effort to respect Athenians' public space and daily life."

Citizens can report abandoned bikes on the phone number 1595.