Thieves ride off with teen's £4,000 bike

A teenage champion mountain biker has been left devastated after thieves broke into his garage and stole his prized cycle.

Josh Hodgetts, 16, woke to discover his red Intense Socom mountain bike, worth about £4,000, had been stolen from the garage of his family home in Claverham.

The raiders had also stolen his Suzuki RM 125cc motocross bike, which he had just bought and three other mountain bikes used by his mum, dad and brother.

Josh, who is studying sport at Weston College, is a champion downhill mountain biker.

He won the national championships in his age category two years ago and this year came third in the English Downhill Championships.

Mum Jane, a 42-year-old learning support assistant, said: "Josh is gutted. He worked really hard to pay for the bikes doing paper rounds and working as a landscape gardener at weekends and during the summer holidays."

It is believed the thieves levered open the garage and then cut the security cables which secured the bikes to the wall.

The total value of the haul is estimated to be around £13,000.

Call the police on 0845 4567000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 if you have any information.