A “high value” bike worth more than £1,000 has been stolen in Colchester, and its owner has now lost “trust” in people.

A new bike worth £1,200 has been stolen from outside the Welcome store in Haven Road, Colchester, yesterday, July 27, at around 10.30am.

The Welcome store is in partnership with the Southern Co-op and was the former location of a Co-op Food store.

The owner had left the bike outside the shop unlocked as they felt it was safe to leave the bike momentarily.

Upon exiting the store, the owner had discovered the bike which was a gift from their partner, was gone.

Stolen - an image of the bikeStolen - an image of the bike (Image: Public)

Expensive - another image of the stolen bikeExpensive - another image of the stolen bike (Image: Public)

The owner of the bike, who wishes to remain anonymous, is very upset and is hoping it can be found.

They said: “I went into the Co-op in haven road, my local, and left my bike in view of the door.

“I came out and it was gone, it’s a female VOODOO baby blue mountain bike, with pink handle grips and black mud flaps with pink accents.

“I’ll be going to the store to access the CCTV.

“It’s made me lose even more trust in people, and not be so proud of my home city.”

Essex Police is asking for anyone with information to step forward.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We received a report of a bike being stolen outside the Co-op in Haven Road in Colchester at around 10:30am on Saturday, 27 July.

“The bike is a high value, baby blue mountain bike with pink handlebars.

“Enquiries remain ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact us quoting incident number 398 of July 27.”