BURGLARS kicked a hole in the back door of a house in Darlington to steal a mountain bike, which they later dumped in an alleyway.

The house in Lewes Road was targeted at about 6.50pm on Sunday, January 25, when one or more suspects entered via a back gate before kicking in the bottom panel of the back door.

PC Matt Stasiak, from Darlington CID, said: "They have entered the property via the hole they made and taken a white coloured mountain bike from within the address - unusually they had to remove the seat from the bike to get it to fit through the hole they had made.

"This bike was then abandoned for some reason in the rear alleyway between Lewes Road and Falmer Road, where it was recovered by police."

Anyone with any information should contact PC Stasiak at Darlington CID via the non-emergency 101 number.