Maidenhead Cycle Hub reunites owner with bike stolen 15 years ago

A Maidenhead bike charity has reunited a stolen bike with its rightful owner nearly 15 years after it was first reported missing.

The bike had been donated to Maidenhead Cycle Hub and volunteers ran a background check on the vehicle when it arrived at their Bell Street workshop.

Owner Anthony Chaddock reported the bike stolen in 2010, and it has been passed through several owners until 2025 when it was eventually donated in good faith to the Maidenhead-based bike charity.

Anthony said: "I was amazed to be contacted to be told that a bike that had been stolen 14 years previously had been found, and was even more amazed to find it as if no time had passed, down to (I’m sure) still having the same tyres I had fitted.

"I am very grateful to the staff at Maidenhead Cycle Hub for their diligence and help, as well as that of the Maidenhead Police, in reuniting me with my bike that holds significant sentimental value for me even after all this time."

Anthony travelled nearly 70 miles from Portsmouth to collect the bike from the Maidenhead Cycle Hub retail store in the Nicholsons Centre earlier this month and volunteers were ‘thrilled’ with the outcome.

Kate Greville from the charity said: “When we ran a background check on the bike using the Bike Register website, we found that it was stolen a good few years ago.

“We then contacted Thames Valley Police who then contacted the rightful owner for us.

“Mr Chaddock came all the way from Portsmouth to collect his bike, which had been a present for successfully completing his A-level exams in 1998, taken to France to explore the country and then stolen in 2010.

“Everyone at Maidenhead Cycle Hub is thrilled that the bike is now back with its rightful owner.”

Maidenhead Cycle Hub accepts bike and scooter donations, and cycle parts at its Bell Street workshop and can refurbish or find them a new home via its retail shop.

They also provide servicing and repairs for people wishing to maintain their bicycles with further information available at www.cyclehub.org.uk