A 10-year-old son of a Ukrainian family who had his bicycle stolen after a trip home to visit his father's grave has been given a permanent replacement thanks to local efforts.

Mark Havrylyshyn, who lives with his mum in a flat in the Royal George House was upset at the time as the bike had sentimental value bike and was a symbol of friendship and a gift from a schoolfriend.

But now, thanks to Cllr David Evans and Wyesham man Ken Breeze, Mark has not only got a permanent replacement bike, but so has his sister Kamilla!

David told the Beacon: “My son gave me three bikes that my grandchildren had outgrown, and I passed them onto Ken who checked the bikes over.

“We had to wait until the family had secure storage where they live so I built them a secure storage shed for them at the weekend. It was donated by a couple from the Methodist Church.”

His mum Anastasia blamed herself initially as she should have brought the bike inside or at least locked it up.

She explained: “When the children needed to bring a bike to school, his schoolfriend kindly offered to lend Mark her bike, then her parents said to keep the bike, saying it was a sign of their sincere friendship that's why we were very sad when it was stolen: The bike had symbolic value as well as sentimental value.

On hearing about the theft, former mayor, Cllr David Evans approached Wyesham man Ken Breeze who found a temporary a replacement bicycle for the young Ukrainian boy, Mark, to use.

Now with the pair of them having new bikes, mum Anastasia added that the pair were both out riding the bikes “for hours after picking them up, I had difficulty getting them to come in.”

The stolen bike was never recovered.