Tourist foils second south Shropshire bike shop burglary
A quick-thinking holidaymaker stepped in to stop burglars as they tried to break in to a Shropshire cycle shop in the middle of the night.
It is the second time that Blazing Bikes, in Marshbrook, near Church Stretton, has been targeted.
Thieves stole bikes worth about £18,000 during a raid on August 6 and caused damage worth £2,000.There is now a £1,000 for any information leading to a conviction.
On Sunday an attempted raid was stopped by the tourist, who ran out of the shower block at the neighbouring campsite after spotting the men trying to kick in the doors at 3.30am.
The two burglars ran off empty handed.
Richard Davies, shop manager, said: "A man staying on the campsite ran out of the shower block and told them to get lost and they then ran off.
"We have not really had any problems with break-ins at Blazing Bikes until the last few weeks. It's beginning to get very annoying for everyone here.
"Because of these break-ins we are going to be installing more security measures.
"These will include a smoke device which will fill the shop with smoke if it's broken into.
"We will also be installing more CCTV cameras, security lights, metal doors and new alarms."
Mr Davies said there had been no arrests since the break-in on August 6, where bikes including an Orange 322 model valued at £5,500, an Orange Gyro black gold edition mountain bike, a Labyrinth Minotaur mountain bike with full Bos suspension and an Eddy Merckx EMX3 mountain bike, were stolen.
During the first raid police say thieves forced entry into the shop between 3am and 3.30am, causing about £2,000 of damage to windows and doors.
"We have still not heard anything about the bikes that were stolen last time," said Mr Davies.
