Police officers in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire have recovered a high value bicycle and returned it to its rightful owner after it was listed for sale on the online auction site Ebay.

The Marin Mount Vision 5.8 2009 model bike was stolen, along with a Hard Tail mountain bike, from a home in Hester’s Way Lane in Cheltenham between 10pm on Wednesday August 5 and 5.45am on Thursday August 6.

Annoyed by the theft of their bikes one of the owners began searching online auction sites and immediately recognised one of stolen bikes as theirs. The police were alerted and acted straight away carrying out a warrant at an address in Springbank Grove, the marin bike, which is valued at approximately £2850, was recovered and a 29-year-old man arrested.

The man was later charged with theft of a pedal cycle and bailed to appear at Cheltenham Magistrates Court on September 18. The second bike has not yet been recovered and officers continue to work to try and locate it so that it can also be returned to its owner.

Officers are encouraging cyclists to register their bikes on www.immobilise.com, a website that allows you to create a free, private and secure portfolio of all of your personal property and adds the items to the National Mobile Property Register. If the bike, or registered item, is then lost or stolen the website can be used to tell the Police, your insurer and the second-hand trade to assist in recovering your property and catch the thief.

If you are about to purchase a second-hand bike and are unsure of the bikes history we recommend you consider checking the bikes serial number against Immobilise’s sister service CheckMEND – The Second-hand Database of Lost, Stolen and Counterfeit Goods.

Anyone who thinks they may have seen the outstanding bike is asked to contact Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number 94 of August 6. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.