Thieves steal £20k of bikes from flood-hit Yorkshire shop

Thieves have stolen bicycles worth more than £20,000 from a bike shop in the flood-ravaged town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

According to police, Cycle Factory on Der Street, which had been flooded on Boxing Day, was broken into some time before 4pm on December 27 and 8.30am on December 28.

Nine bikes were stolen from the shop, which opened at the end of August, and they have been listed on Cycle Factory’s Facebook page along with a message that reads:

PLEASE SHARE HELP FIND THESE THIEVES.

Struggling for words here we got flooded on Saturday as did a lot of people. Last night we were robbed by the scum of the earth preying on flood victims. Please like and share to help find these bikes. I'll try [to] list them properly with an edit later. Some new in boxes some customers’ bikes some reps’ bikes.

2016 Kona Process 153 medium
2016 Kona Hei Hei Trail medium only one in the country
2016 Kona Process 111 medium
2016 Kona Precept 150 Medium (boxed)
2015 Mondraker Dune XR Large
2016 Cube Attention 17" (stolen in box)
2016 Cube Attention 21" (stolen in box)
2016 Cube LTD Race Blackline (stolen in box)
2016 Cube KID 240 Black (stolen in box).

Other businesses and individuals in the Calderdale area have fallen victim to looters and opportunistic thieves looking to profit for the flooding, leading motorcycle groups to offer their assistance to the police.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "As the clean-up of Mytholmroyd, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge continues, we are being made aware of persons attending the area and removing items which are being left outside properties either for disposal or to dry out.

"In order to ensure the safety of empty properties in the area additional police resources have been drafted in from other districts and areas.

"In addition to this several motor cycle clubs from the Bradford and surrounding areas have volunteered to patrol the area as extra eyes and ears on the ground."

Meanwhile, cleaning up the mess caused by the floods is continuing for Cycle Factory and others affected by the flooding, with the shop due to remain closed until the new year.

 In a message posted to Facebook on Monday evening, Cycle Factory said: “Just to let our customers know, we will be closed for business for the next week at least as our area and factory were very badly flooded on Boxing Day along with many other businesses and properties.

“We would like to thank everyone that has helped us so far with the clean up and it is wonderful to see the local community of Todmorden showing such amazing community spirit!”