A DEDICATED teenager has been forced to stop working after heartless thieves stole his much-needed bicycle.

James Lee-West, aged 15, relied on his blue Specialized Rockhopper for his paper round.

He is urging thieves to return his treasured possession after it was stolen from King Street in the town at 4pm on Saturday.

The Budmouth College student has been waking up early before school to deliver papers for Broadwey Village Stores for more than two years.

He has saved more than £1,000 for an expedition to Ecuador, but has been forced to stop his round without a bicycle.

James, of Nightingdale Drive, said: “I left my bike chained to the bike stands on King Street so I could attend my weekly rowing session with Weymouth Gig Rowing Club.

“When I returned to the bike during the afternoon, it had been stolen and the police were on the scene.”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “We received a call from an off-duty member of police staff about a suspected theft of a bicycle on King Street by the railway station.

“We were told by the caller that a man wearing a duffle coat and a rucksack had stolen a dark blue mountain bike.”

The offender was pursued by officers to the Carlton Road area where only the bicycle lock was recovered.

The distraught teenager, who finished school last month, added: “The thief had sawn through the bike lock in a busy pedestrian area in daylight."

His mum Sarah said: “James is devastated. He got his bike for his birthday and had used it every day since.”

The teenager also uses his bike to get to the Air radio studios where he volunteers as a presenter on Thursday evenings.

He sets out for Ecuador in three weeks.

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police on 101.