A Bradford cycling group has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after thieves broke into a storage container to steal a dozen bicycles.

The culprits used cutting equipment to force their way into the store off Canal Road, Frizinghall, used by Crank It Up Cycling For All – which helps people learn to ride.

The haul included a distinctive three- seat machine and two tandems.

Chris Evans, of Crank It Up, said it could the cost the group up to £2,000 to replace the three seat bike, which is used to help the visually impaired ride.

He told of his despair when he and his staff learned of the break-in. He said: “We went up to the container and it initially looked as if it hadn’t been broken into because it was closed up again.

“Then we tried the door and it opened up. They had to cut through reinforced hasp to get in there.

“Your heart just drops to the floor because, firstly, you know people won’t be able to enjoy them.

“Secondly, you know your work’s going to suffer and thirdly you think ‘we are going to have to raise all that money to replace it’.

“And your heart drops because of the happy memories of actually working with people, seeing the look on people’s faces when they are visually impaired and they are on a bike.”

Mr Evans said ten mountain bikes were stolen, which would cost about £4,000 to replace, two tandems, which would cost £1,200 to replace, along with the cost to replace the three seat bike.

It could also cost the group a further £400 to move the container to a new site.

He said: “We would struggle to raise that sort of money. Hopefully people, if they have got a tandem they are not using, will want to donate it to a good cause.

“We would welcome it, as we would with mountain bikes. The more people donate the less time we have to spend raising money and the more we can spend working with people promoting cycling.

“Crank It Up is a part-time voluntary group which receives no regular or guaranteed income and hence has no money to pay rent. For the past five years the bike have been in a container and we have never had any problems or attempted break-ins.

“We are appealing to any company who either has any storage space they are not using or have a secure yard with space for a container to contact us.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the thefts were being investigated and appealed for anyone with information about the stolen bikes, particularly the distinctive ones, to contact officers.

To donate a bike to Crank It Up, or to help in anyway such as by doing a sponsored bike ride, contact Mr Evans on 07835 840989.

Anyone with any information about the incident, or believes they have seen the bikes, should contact the Shipley NPT on (01274) 537454 quoting log number 1127 of September 9.