January 11, 2013 11:07

Blur's Damon Albarn 'spent £18k replacing stolen bikes'

Frontman reportedly refused to chain up his expensive bikes

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Photo: Pa Photos

Blur's Damon Albarn has reportedly spent £18,000 on replacing bikes that he has had stolen from him.

According to The Sun Albarn, who is a fan of "old-school style racers that cost about £600", refuses to chain the bikes up when he is not using them, leaving the vehicles open to being stolen by anyone who wants to take them. According to the tabloid, Albarn has spent over £18k replacing around 30 bikes he has had stolen since 2007.

"Damon’s wild for having his bikes nicked," an unnamed source told the paper. "He always buys old-school style racers that cost about £600 a pop. He’s spent around £18,000 since 2007 getting his stolen bikes replaced. It’s all because he can’t be bothered to use a lock. Staff asked him to use a lock but he said, 'I can’t be arsed'. They even offered a lock installed with satellite tracking technology but he refused it."

Meanwhile, Blur will play a number of European festival dates later this year. The band will perform at Rock Werchter, Primavera and Oya in Norway.

It is not yet clear whether the band will be playing any more new material for future live dates. Blur penned two new tracks – 'Under The Westway' and 'The Puritan' – for their 2012 Hyde Park shows, and the band have hinted that more could follow, with producer William Orbit telling NME in 2012 that the band had been in the studio working on new material with him.

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