A bike shop manager from Bradford on Avon has put CCTV images of youths who broke into his store and stole £12,000 worth of bikes on Facebook in a bid to get justice.

Mark Ashley, 31, manager of the family-run business TT Cycles in Frome Road, has set up a group on the social networking site called Find the Thieving Scum after five rare mountain bikes were stolen in the early hours of Friday.

Mr Ashley said: “I want to know who it is really, more than anything else.

“It is a family business. My dad Richard, who owns the store, is taking it better than me. I just feel it is a personal intrusion in my life.”

The site, which has 24 CCTV images uploaded onto it, currently has 179 members from across the county since it was set up over the weekend.

Mr Ashley received a call at about 5.45am on Friday from staff at the Lock Inn Café to say the window to the store had been broken and a pane of glass removed.

Mr Ashley said: “The CCTV footage captured three guys who smashed the front door window in. They stole three very expensive bikes and then came back at 5am and must have noticed that no-one was around so they nicked two more.

“We found out at 5.45am because I had a phone call from the café across the road.”

The mountain bikes are still missing and no one has been arrested.

Mr Ashley said: “I felt very annoyed about it when I first realised what had happened.

“It is the first time anything like this has happened since I have been here, and that is about seven years.”

The store’s CCTV system captured images of the offenders, who had tried to hide behind dark clothing and hooded tops.

The window, which was cracked and completely removed from the door, has now been replaced and security has been stepped up to prevent a repeat occurence.

The stolen bikes include a white Lapierre Spicy 516, a brown/red Lapierre Spicy 513, a green Lapierre Froggy, a brown/red Lapierre X- Control and a bright red Tecnic 500.

Sgt Neil Berrett of Bradford on Avon police said: “There are people reading this who will be made aware of the identity of these offenders, when they try to realise their financial value. I appeal to those people to do the right thing. We would also like to hear from anybody who saw anything suspicious in the area that night.”

Anyone who saw people acting suspiciously in the area at 3am or about 5am on Friday should call police on 0845 408 7000, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.