POLICE are still searching for thieves who stole three bikes before crashing into their owner’s car while riding one of them.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said officers had made repeated efforts to trace the yobs responsible for stealing John Cook’s beloved machines.

Middlesbrough man Mr Cook called for tougher sentences for young offenders yesterday after young burglars made off with three of his bikes.

They burned two of them out and left one seriously damaged after crashing it into his car when they were spotted riding around the Park End area of the town on it.

Before he had the opportunity to report the bikes as stolen, police were already hunting the thieves, having had reports of motorcycles being ridden irresponsibly.

The spokeswoman for the force said that the investigating officer was keeping Mr Cook up to date with progress on the case as she detailed actions taken so far.

She said: “Police made efforts to trace these motorcycles even before they were reported as stolen as we had been informed that they were being ridden in an antisocial manner on the night of the theft.

“Officers attended another area of Middlesbrough following reports that a yellow motorbike was being ridden around at around 1am - the bike was reported stolen the following day.

“An officer also attended the location of the collision and took details while colleagues conducted an area search, which was unfortunately negative.

“They also attended another location in which a third party had suggested we might find an offender however, again, we were unable to trace any suspect.”

The force’s inquiries are still on-going and officers are appealing for help in tracking down those responsible for stealing the bikes, which were taken on April 10.

Anyone with information should contact Cleveland Police on non-emergency number 101 quoting 62238.