Thieves’ £10k raid on town bike shop

Newspaper: Pontefract & Castleford Express.
Story: J's Cycle Shack, Old Great North Road, Ferrybridge. Thieves broke into the shop through the roof and stole upwards of £10,000 worth of mountain bikes.
Picture shows J's Cycle Shack owner James Wagner with some of his stock that is left.
Photo Date: 18/05/15
Photo Ref: AB034a0515 — Newspaper: Pontefract & Castleford Express. Story: J's Cycle Shack, Old Great North Road, Ferrybridge. Thieves broke into the shop through the roof and stole upwards of £10,000 worth of mountain bikes. Picture shows J's Cycle Shack owner James Wagner with some of his stock that is left. Photo Date: 18/05/15 Photo Ref: AB034a0515

The break-in at J’s Cycle Shack, Ferrybridge, happened sometime between 10pm on Tuesday, May 12 and 8.30am the next morning.

Seven bikes were stolen during the raid after the thieves ripped through the shop’s tin roof.

James Wagner, store owner, said: “I came into the shop on the Wednesday morning and saw that they had come in through the roof and noticed they’d stolen seven bikes.

“I can’t put into words how angry I was. It’s not so much the stock they stole but the whole inconvenience of it.

“We lost two days of trading last week while we got the roof repaired and that obviously had an effect on sales.”

Mr Wagner said the thieves used a pallet to get onto the roof after climbing over the fence from the Ferrybridge household waste recycling site.

He said they then ripped back the shop’s tin roof and stole seven bikes, each worth more than £1,000 as well as helmets and other equipment.

Mr Wagner, 22, said: “We are insured for what was stolen but they won’t be replaced for some time and we simply can’t replace £10,000 worth of stock quickly.

“The bikes won’t be replaced until the insurance claims have gone through so it really has had a negative effect on the company.”

Police officers from the Pontefract and Knottingley neighbourhood policing team appealed for witnesses.

Acting Insp Lee Carlson said: “This kind of crime always impacts more severely on smaller businesses that are vital to the local economy.

“The stolen bikes are quite distinctive and I would urge anyone with any information to contact the police.”

- The bikes stolen during the raid were: an Orange Downhill in black, a Scott Aspect 680 in black and green, a Scott Aspect 730 in black and red, a Scott Scale 735 in black and green, a Scott Plasma and a Scott Spark 950 in black and green.

- Thieves also stole three cycle helmets, a Scott Wit R in black and two Kask Majito helmets in black and white.

- Anyone with any information should contact the Pontefract and Knottingley NPT on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.