QUICK-thinking police officers have been hailed after a high-speed bicycle chase through a Suffolk town led to the arrest of a suspected bike thief.

Dave Gooderham

QUICK-thinking police officers have been hailed after a high-speed bicycle chase through a Suffolk town led to the arrest of a suspected bike thief.

Two community support officers reacted following a report of a stolen bike outside Newmarket's Waitrose store and apprehended a youngster after tailing him on police bicycles.

While praising the actions of Lindsey Morgan and Hannah Rogers, police also used the incident to highlight the importance of bicycles revealing that the pair would have had no chance had they been on foot.

Newmarket Inspector Simon Clifton said: “This incident shows just how valuable these cycles - which were recently provided by partners - are. Had the officers been on foot they would have struggled to follow the suspicious bike.

“The safer neighbourhood team will continue to patrol the town using these bikes to respond quickly and effectively to incidents and to visit their communities."

Following a report of a stolen bike from outside Waitrose yesterday, police broadcast a description to all officers on patrol in the town.

The two officers saw a youth riding a bike, fitting the description, in George Lambton Avenue and were able to follow him on their bikes along Fordham Road to Fred Archer Way where the bike was discarded.

The youth was detained nearby and the bike has since been returned to its owner.

A spokesman for Suffolk police said a 17-year-old from Newmarket has been charged with theft of a pedal cycle and is due before Bury Youth Court on April 15.