A TEENAGE apprentice has been left devastated after thieves stole the motorbike he used to commute to work.

Billy Jones, aged 18, who works for town centre engineering firm Provel, was left stunned when he woke to discover his bike had been stolen.

It had been chained up in the yard outside a friend's house in Chadwick Street, Little Lever, where he had been staying on Wednesday, March 4.

Every day Billy used the blue Moto 125 bike to get there from his home, with the alternative being paying £25 each week to use the bus, a sizeable portion of his £600 monthly wage.

Billy's father Dave Jones said police suspected someone had cut the chain away and carried the bike away.

Now Billy is faced with a problem as he did not insure the bike against theft — because the excess was more than it cost to buy — meaning his family are now faced with trying to replace the bike, which cost £1,400 new.

His father Mr Jones said: "It was parked up out the front of his friend's house, locked up with a chain.

"The police think someone has cut through the chain and carried it away. We have been looking but no luck so far.

"He has just turned 18 and earns the minimum wage. He won't take handouts from me and is a proud lad so this is a blow. He just rang me on the morning, really upset, saying that he couldn't find his bike.

"It's the first time in his life he has been let down."

Billy started his apprenticeship straight out of school and is now in his second year of three, with a view to obtaining an engineering qualification.

Mr Jones added: "We have started looking in Darcy Lever, where a lot of stolen bikes get taken to apparently.

"We have a lot of friends and they will be keeping an eye out.

"Billy is a hard-working young man, very enterprising. He starts out at 7am some mornings and is not finished until 9pm. He works anywhere he can and does not need this disruption."

A police spokesman said: "We were called to the theft of a motorbike from Chadwick Street which occurred between 1.30 and 7.30am. A blue Moto 125 bike had been stolen. No arrests have been made."

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.