A MUM has told how a thief watched her home before stealing her son’s bike seconds after she had left the house.

Clare King realised her 14-year-old son Rio’s motor cross bike had been stolen on Monday afternoon.

Eager to find out how the thief had got into the locked garage, she looked back at CCTV footage outside the house, in Frank Clater Close.

She was shocked to see the thief had actually visited her house the previous night, climbing over the wall into her back garden.

The footage, from about midnight on Sunday, shows the culprit scoping out the garage before jumping back over the wall.

He then returns the next day, about 90 seconds after Clare pulls her car off the drive to collect Rio and his sister Kiera, eight, from school.

Miss King said: “It was really creepy as it was as if he had been watching the house.

“It makes me feel really uneasy to watch it back - the front door of the garage is locked and alarmed so he has climbed over the wall and gone through the back door of the garage, wheeling the bike out of the front.”

The thief had managed to activate the electronic lock on the garage door, and even returned later after stealing the bike to close the door again.

Rio visits motor cross tracks as a hobby and was devastated to find out his prized orange bike, which was a Christmas present, had been stolen.

His mum added: “It’s something I can’t replace at the moment and it’s just put a downer on his year.

“It’s a children’s bike and I just think it’s absolutely disgusting.”

She shared the CCTV footage on Facebook in a bid to find the culprit and has had a positive response from residents wanting to help.

She said: “I have had a lot of support, even from strangers.”

The police are aware and anyone with information should call 101.