A POPULAR motorcycle club has had to cancel a series of children’s events after burglars stole two mini motorcycles.

One Oset 16 and one Oset 20 bike were stolen from the home of a member of the Braintree and District Motorcycle Club in Gardeners Road, Halstead, overnight on Monday.

The bikes were used by youngsters as part of the club’s junior academy events.

Wes Butcher, a member of the club, said: “At the beginning of the year we were celebrating out 70th anniversary as a club and we were deciding how to celebrate.

“We thought it would be nice to buy some children’s bikes and run events where parents could bring their kids and have a go at the sport.

“We hoped it would make the sport more affordable and accessible to youngsters and families. It has been a tremendous success and we have had more than 50 youngsters come and use these bikes at events throughout the year.”

But the club has now been forced to cancel the events for the foreseeable future. Mr Butcher believes the two electric motorbikes were “targeted” by the burglars, but says the rare bikes will be difficult to sell.

He said: “We wanted to give something back and to celebrate our 70th anniversary, to have some scumbag ruin that by deciding to nick them is devastating. For the foreseeable future the events are off and it will take us a while to recover from this.

“It has gone viral and lots of people are very upset about this, not just from our club, but in the motorcycling community.

“I would like the person who has done this to realise that it wasn’t just bikes they stole, they were more important than that.”

Anyone with information should contact Braintree CID on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.