A BIKER is offering a £500 reward for information that leads to the return of his beloved motorcycle that was stolen from outside his girlfriend's house.

Phin Mackaness, was visiting his girlfriend who lives in Deakins Park, Egerton, last weekend when His Ducati motorbike was snatched from outside her home.

He had arrived from his home in the Lake District on the Friday night and secured the bike with a number of chains and locks before going inside for the night.

At around 9am on Saturday morning he got up to go for a run and noticed that the bike was not where he had left it and soon worked out that it had been stolen.

He said: "This is the first time that anything like this has happened. It is quite annoying.

"It is quite a rare bike, there is not a lot of them out on the road, they are quite expensive for what they are.

"It is my pride and joy."

Mr Mackaness, who works in events, bought the bike for around £7,5000 second-hand so believes that it could be sold on for quite a large sum of money and would be valuable to the people that took it.

He said that there was evidence at the scene that the motorbike had been dragged and put into a van or trailer rather than the chains and locks being cut and the bike being driven.

Mr Mackaness is now offering a £500 reward for any information that leads to the people who took the bike being arrested or that sees the bike returned.

He said that there is no CCTV footage of the area so is now relying on information on the public to help.

The 40-year-old urged anyone with information about the theft to get in touch with him to reunite him with his beloved bike.

He said: "If you do see a bike looking like this or something to this, do report them."

The bike is a Ducati Hypermotard 821 SP and the registration is MX13 EGJ, it has a black, red and white chassis and could have been broken down for parts.

Anyone with information can rather contact Mr Mackaness on 074800 56484 or Greater Manchester Police on 101.

Other bikers are being warned to make sure they aren't targeted by the bike thieves.

Police offer a range of advice on making sure that motorbikes are secure to try and reduce the risk of them being stolen.

This includes always locking it and setting the alarm if it has one, trying to use a designated motorcycle parking place with a stand and security loop when leaving it for sometime and locking it to something secure.

Police also say that at home people can use a special attachment to lock their bike to and can also take advantage of a motorbike cover.

Bikes can also be marked with their vehicle identification number and it is also advised not to leave possession such as helmets and other items as these make them a target for thieves.

People are always urged to think about where they park and are advised to do so in places where lots of people are passing, have a lot of people passing, have good lighting and CCTV.