A MOTORBIKE trader has praised police who returned a stolen motorcycle before he knew it was missing.

The child's scramble bike was retrieved after a high-speed police chase and returned to GMT Motorcycles, in Crook, before staff noticed it had gone.

Shop owner John Tomlinson said: "We were just off-loading the bikes from the van and were busy in and out of the shop. At one point I said 'I thought that pallet had an extra bike on', but dismissed it. Then the police rang up and asked me if I had lost a bike. It's unbelievable."

PC Dave Parker and PC Rhoda Malins had been carrying out random checks on vehicles in the area and when the van driver refused to stop, they pursued him and retrieved the stolen bike.

The driver has been arrested and released on police bail.