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A father near Banbury has been left ‘devastated’ after two motocross bikes he uses to raise money for a local autism charity were stolen from his garage during the early hours of this morning (Monday, January 27).

Motocross racer Tom Bushby has raised around £5,000 for Autism Family Support Oxfordshire through sponsored racing over the past few years.

Tom, who lives in Bloxham, was inspired to fundraise for the charity after recognising the great support it had shown to his six-year-old son, Arthur.

Over the past four years, Tom has entered some of the biggest and wildest races the UK has to offer while raising money for the charity.

Experienced motocross racer has raised thousands of pounds for the Autism Family Support Oxfordshire charity with sponsored races.

Last October, Tom and his friends raised over £1,000 by taking part in the notorious Weston-Super-Mare Beach Race.

However, the theft of the two bikes from his garage during the early hours has left him unable to race or raise money for charity.

Tom said: “I’m devastated, it’s not me that suffers; those bikes were used to raise money for the autism charity, and children will miss out now.”

During the frightening raid, the thieves are believed to have cut the power to Tom’s house in order to disable his CCTV cameras.

The Yamaha WR250 and a GasGas EC250 that were stolen from Tom's garage.

Tom said: “They broke into my van, which was parked outside my garage, rolled it forward, and then cut the power to the house to disarm my cameras.

“They then cut their way into the garage and wheeled the two bikes that were chained together with an alarmed padlock out and lifted them both together into the back of an estate car and drove off.”

Tom says he only became aware of the theft after his wife Lisa informed him that their power had gone off at 1.30am.

The two motocross bikes stolen from Tom’s address are a Yamaha WR250 and a GasGas EC250.

Tom warns other bike owners to be careful and says that despite his investing in security cameras and alarm chains, the thieves were still able to steal the bikes.

A police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that two motorbikes have been stolen from a property on Bartlett Road between midnight and 1am this morning (27/1).

“The investigation is ongoing and if anyone has information, we would ask them to call 101 quoting reference 43250042635.”

Banbury father left 'devastated' after motorbikes used to raise money for autism charity are stolen from garage