A MALVERN crime victim had to do his own detective work and even pay a small reward to recover his stolen motorbike parts.

Dentist Rupert Parsons says he was forced to take matters into his own hands when police failed to make any progress.

Mr Parsons, from Parsons Dental Surgery, Worcester Road, tracked down the Honda 90 soon after it disappeared from his Geraldine Road home in August, but has only just recovered all the accessories taken from it.

He is now in the process of making a formal complaint to police.

When the bike was taken, Mr Parsons went to nearby Pound Bank Common, where he heard motorbikes were regularly raced. He asked around and was told that the bike had been seen outside a shop.

After further inquiries, he was given two addresses by three youngsters. He then knocked on several doors, eventually finding the bike in the Poolbrook area of the town, where a group of youngsters were playing with it.

All the accessories had been removed and Mr Parsons says he had to wait another month and hand over a small reward before they were returned.

"There seems to be an irony that I've had to buy back my own stolen property," he said.

Mr Parsons now has the bike back but says it is unusable because the lights and other parts have been snapped off. To re-mount them would cost more than £1,000, of which his insurance would not even cover half.

"If we had community police officers who were able to make inquiries in an unofficial way then the parts would have been returned much more speedily," he said.

"If the police had people on the street and knew where to call, that bike would have been returned without all the damage."

Kim Stain, of West Mercia police, said inquiries into the incident were continuing with a view to prosecuting the thieves.

She said she could not comment on Mr Parson's complaint as it had not yet been received.