More than 100 arrests for cycle crime have been made in Cambridgeshire since lockdown began.

But it hasn’t yet included anyone being charged for the theft of a Manea paper boy whose cycle was stolen from outside a newsagent’s last month.

However, on Saturday and following a public appeal, the Manea youngster turned up at Halford’s in March to collect a shiny new cycle.

And other youngsters from the village who use their cycles for delivering papers, have been given security equipment and accessories.

The money for these came from the balance of the fund-raising efforts and through the support of Halford’s.

Fiona Evans, mother of the teenage boy whose cycle was stolen, said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to all your kind people in helping my son get a bike after his was stolen.”

Superintendent James Sutherland almost half of the 103 arrested have since been charged and sent to court where they’ve been given sentences including prison and Criminal Behaviour Orders.

“While the rate of cycle crime is still too high, we have seen it decrease 25 per cent compared to the previous year, bucking the national trend,” he said.

“The work to reduce cycle crime also includes reviewing and identifying bike-theft hotspots, recovering stolen bikes with proactive patrols and education.”

Last month 25-year-old Blake Healy was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison after he was spotted by a member of the public lifting the seat from a bike in Hobson Street.

The member of public confronted him and he used the addle to threaten her causing her to run into the road and almost into the path of a bus.

Cambridgeshire police are working with Camcycle to encourage those who love their cycle to ‘lock it and log it’ to keep their property safe.

Supt Sutherland added: “When reporting bike thefts, the most important piece of information to include is the unique serial number on the frame of the bike.

“It’s also incredibly important to register your bike on the National Bike Register.

“Very few of the bikes we examine are registered or reported and this creates an additional challenge when trying to recover stolen property and take action against offenders.”