CALLOUS crooks left a pensioner heartbroken after riding off on his prized bicycle as he visited his ailing wife in a care home.

When the mindless thieves spotted 79-year-old Ashford resident Leslie Parker's aging three-speed bike, with its gleaming mirrors and specially fitted rear-basket, propped-up outside his wife's residential home, they swiped it without a second thought.

The theft of his pride and joy was bad enough but the loss also threatened to stop the Wren's Avenue resident's daily pilgrimage to the side of his 87-year-old wife, Iris, who after 22 years of devoted care from her husband, recently moved into Meadowside Residential Home, in Knowle Park Avenue, Staines.

While his insurers have refused to cover the cost of a replacement because he had forgotten to lock his old bike up, he is determined not to disappoint his wife and takes on the cold and wet to wait for infrequent buses. "I love Iris but now I have to go to see her by bus and it's the bus ride that's terrible. I've waited as long as forty five minutes for a bus, which is too long in this weather. They invite me to go and join her for dinner and I do but it means we have to eat that bit earlier so that I can catch the bus home.

"I was very upset about my old bike being stolen. I really looked after it. It had three speeds and it meant a lot to me.

"I'd just had it done up as well. I'd had new brakes, new special tyres so I could ride it in all weathers and a basket put on the back which had cooking apples for my tea, which they took as well."

The Guardian is now appealing for householders to search their sheds for an unwanted bike to help Mr Parker beat the bus. Anyone who can help should contact reporter Abi Dornan on 020 8589 7538.

By.Abi Dornan