Man helping police after bike theft from Commonwealth Games hopeful at Banbury station

Tom Chandler is hoping to compete at the Commonwealth Games for Scotland EMN-171122-154219002

A man is now helping officers with their enquiries in relation to a bike theft from a Commonwealth Games hopeful at Banbury railway station.

British Transport Police released a CCTV image of a man thought to have information about the theft of Tom Chandler’s racing bike as his train stopped at Banbury on January 18.

Following the appeal, a man has come forward and is assisting police with their enquiries but the specialist bike has not yet been recovered.

The bike is used by Mr Chandler to train competitively – he previously broke the Scottish 4km record and won the Scottish 1km championships.

Tom Chandler's bike which was stolen from a train when it stopped at Banbury. Photo: British Transport Police NNL-180118-161839001

The young prospect had to borrow a bicycle for last weekend’s national championships, a crucial part of being picked to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

“It was tricky, as well as borrowing someone else’s bike and not having much time to train, I was a bit ill so I was a little bit off the times I had in mind but I think we dealt with it the best we could,” he said.

“It was still good fun but obviously it was not as good as I could have hoped.”

Mr Chandler said he had to pull out of a couple of races because of illness, but did set a near personal best in another so it was a mixed weekend for the 19-year-old.

“Having my own bike would have helped but I can’t deal with the illness, it’s the nature of sport sometimes you have got to deal with it the best you can,” he added.

“The focus now is to recover and train for the next race with is in just under three weeks in Derby.”

A police spokesman thanked the public and the media for their assistance.