UNDERCOVER cops will be hunting for bikes thieves who are targeting hard-working medical staff at one of the city’s biggest hospitals.

More bikes have been nicked at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital over the last few weeks, prompting Police Scotland to take action.

The force’s Problem Solving team have began a three-week operation at the city hospital which includes plain-clothed officers and uniformed cops patrolling the grounds.

It is hoped the move will deter bike thieves and catch those responsible for the thefts.

Sergeant Crawford Inglis, who is based at Govan Police Station which covers the Glasgow Division’s South West Command, said: “We have an emerging trend of bike thefts at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital but it is not at the level of the city centre.

“There is thousands of people using bikes to get to the hospital, so associated with that we are getting an increase in the number stolen.”

He added: “We have a plain clothed and uniformed operation for three weeks which is both about deterring and detecting the people who are stealing the bikes.”

Sergeant Crawford revealed that the force has already snared some thieves - with a few caught red-handed with the stolen bikes in their possession.

He also warned the public to wary when buying from popular sale websites including Facebook, Gumtree and eBay as many stolen bikes are being flogged for a fraction of the price.

He said: “We have recovered quite a few bikes from those sites. Both the victims of the theft and ourselves have seen the stolen item on them, and ultimately apprehended someone for the theft of the bikes.”

Last summer, we reported on thieves armed with bolt-cutters nicking bikes from Glasgow city centre.

Police Scotland recommend using Sold Secure locks. This is a police backed initiative whereby manufacturers of locks, submit them to Sold Secure for testing.

Sold Secure rank locks in Bronze, Silver and Gold. For bicycle security, Police Scotland recommend you use Gold level locks.

A spokesman for the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said: “We have been made aware of bikes being reported stolen from the campus and these thefts have been reported to Police Scotland.

“The site has a number of bike facilities, including open racks and closed/locked shelters, all of which are fully operational.

“We have urged staff to be extra vigilant in light of these thefts and to use gold ‘Sold Secure’ standard locks.”