A £200 reward is being offered for the safe return of a racing bike taken from its Marlow Bottom owner just days after she bought it.

Natalie Trice invested in the white Cannondale bike earlier this month, and found it had been stolen from her garage sometime between 9.30pm on Tuesday, October 14 and 8am the following morning.

And the 40-year-old keen cyclist and freelance writer says she will stump up the cash for the safe return of her beloved cycle.

She said: “It was brand new, I only bought it on the Friday and it was taken on Tuesday night. I only got to ride it once.

“I used to cycle a lot before I had my children and started it up again recently. I’d thought I’d upgrade as I’m doing some races next year.

“I’m doing more cycle writing now and was going to use it to get commissions but now I don’t even have a bike. But I won’t let them beat me.”

The bike is a white ladies Cannondale road model with drop handles and dark purple and gold writing.

It has mudguards and lights and also a bottle holder.

Natalie said the reward is much less than it would cost to replace, and said she had not had time to insure the bike before it was taken.

She believes the thieves jumped over a side gate of her house On Marlow Bottom Road and got into a side door to take the bike.

And despite the suspects or bike not having been caught, she praised the response of police officers, who visited her within two hours of reporting the crime.

Contact Natalie Trice on nataliejtrice@gmail.com with information and contact police on 101.

If you want to report information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.