A £9,000 triathlon bike stolen from a property in Baldock has been found, more than 700 miles away in Poland.

The bike was one of two specialist road bikes stolen from a property in the town during a robbery in August last year.

Owner Marc London was determined to find them and trawled social media looking for similar bikes for sale.

Amazingly, he found a bike that he thought was his and this was confirmed when the shop was raided by Polish police, who believed stolen goods were being sold through the unit.

Sergeant Al Clarke was contacted by Marc to see if the bike could be identified. He said: “This was a very long process.

“The language barrier was an issue and things moved slowly until the International Crime Coordination Centre became involved.

“They got in contact with prosecutors in Poland and finally the bike was identified as Marc’s and released for collection.”

Marc travelled to Poland at the end of April and, after a three-hour interview, his bike was returned.

“I couldn’t believe it when then said I could come and collect my bike as I was beginning to think it would never be returned,” he said.

“My dogged determination to find it and Al’s contacts which helped cut through the red tape, meant we finally got it returned.

“Although we are no nearer to finding out who took it, I am delighted that it is finally back where it belongs.”