I found stolen bike 700 miles away... in Poland!
A TRIATHLETE who was left devastated when his specialist £9,000 bicycle was stolen from his garden shed has tracked it down – 700 miles away in Poland.
Marc London had almost given up hope after eight months of searching for the high-performance Cervelo P5 bicycle.
The electrician discovered it was stolen from a locked shed at his home in Baldock, Hertfordshire, after returning from a holiday in Dubai with his wife Emily in August 2018.
When their appeal to police simply resulted in being given a crime number, the couple started an extensive local search that failed to throw up any leads.
Mr London, 46, then trawled through social media for any clues as to the whereabouts of his stolen bike and posted multiple appeals for information. After a month of silence, another athlete finally got in touch to say that he had seen the bike for sale in a shop in Poznan, western Poland.
Mrs London phoned the shop but the owners told them that it had been sold only a day previously. The premises were eventually raided by Polish police who suspected that stolen goods were being sold through the unit and the bicycle was found.
After contacting Hertfordshire Police, a lengthy process began during which authorities in both the UK and Poland tried to establish whether Mr London was in fact the owner of the bicycle.
An intervention by local MP, Sir Oliver Heald, sped the process along and the Londons flew to Poland in April and collected the bike after a three-hour interview with police.
Mrs London said: ‘We hired a bike bag and got a flight straight away. We were so excited when we got to the police station, but we still hadn’t revealed our trump card. Marc had placed a tracking “tile” in the frame of the bike, which meant that he could use an app on his phone to get close to the bike and set off an alarm. The second we heard that alarm we just burst into tears and the whole Polish police office were so happy.’
She added: ‘They started clapping and cheering and taking our pictures. It was a small fortune to get to this point.’
Mr London said: ‘ I couldn’t believe it when they said I could come and collect my bike as I was beginning to think it would never be returned. Although we are no nearer to finding out who took it, I am delighted that it is finally back where it belongs.’