Pensioner's vintage motorbikes stolen

A Black Country pensioner has been left heartbroken after his two rare historic motorcycles were stolen from his garage.

Bob Spruce was the proud owner of the vintage motorcycles before thieves raided his locked garage on Thursday night.

They took a 1948 James Cadet, which is painted in RAF trim and bears the registration number SSJ 287.

The second is a 1957 Royal Enfield, which is still the original green colour, and bears the registration number ESJ 990.

Together they are valued at around £2,000 but Mr Spruce's son David said they would be extremely hard to replace due to their rarity.

The grandfather-of-one had lovingly restored the James Cadet cycle to its former glory and had owned it for many years.But he bought the prized Royal Enfield just days ago after a long and painstaking search. His wife Heather said her husband had woken up on Friday to discover the garage door at their home in Wordsley, Stourbridge, prised open with what looked like a crow bar.

She said: "He found the door on the garage at the bottom of the garden smashed.

"We had bars and padlocks on the windows but they still got in. Bob had been looking for a Royal Enfield for years. He'd only bought it the previous Sunday. He'd had the James for some time though. He's very disappointed."

She said they had spent the last few days walking around, listening and looking out for the two missing motorcycles. The 73-year-old retired laboratory technician was due to show off the rare cycles at a rally in Hanbury.

His son David, who lives in Pedmore and organises vintage vehicle events to raise money for the air ambulance service, said his father was gutted.

He said: "Hopefully someone will know what they are and report them to police.

"These aren't just kids' scrambler bikes." Police have been informed and are investigating the thefts.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 0845 113 5000.