BURGLARS took apart a garage brick by brick in the dead of night before making off with three mountain bikes worth almost £6,000.

The thieves also unwired three street lamps to plunge the area into darkness before dismantling the garage.

Two adult bikes and a customised child's cycle were stolen from the Branksome area of Darlington on Sunday night.

Dot and Dave Humphries did not discover the bikes had gone missing until the following morning when their son started his paper round.

Mrs Humphries, of Marrick Avenue, said she heard a crash at about 11.30pm the previous evening but put it down to the high winds.

She said the thieves got in by removing about 200 bricks from the back wall of the garage.

They stole three expensive bikes, but left two cheaper ones behind.

Mrs Humphries said: "I cannot believe it. It is like a bank robbery. It is unbelievable.

"There were all the bricks piled on the grass. They must have then climbed through.

"They had already tried to get through the doors."

She said they had taken extra measures to protect the bikes after thieves tried to break in on two occasions just before Christmas last year. The measures included alarming the garage door and installing a new roof.

Her husband goes mountain biking every weekend and one evening each week.

She expected the thieves tried the garage because of the run-up to Christmas.

Inspector Gordon Strong, of Darlington police, said: "They have gone to the trouble of removing a lamppost and then a large piece of wall.

"We have never seen anything like this before."

Any witnesses are asked to call Darlington police on 0845-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.