Former children’s TV star Timmy Mallett has said it is an “awful irony” that his bike was stolen from his local village after he had cycled thousands of miles across Europe on it in memory of his late brother.
Mallett, 62, said the bike had been his “best pal” during his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, in Spain.
The entertainer embarked on the trip five days after his brother Martin, who had Down’s Syndrome and later suffered from dementia, died aged 64.
But, on Friday evening, after returning from the pilgrimage, which got the seal of approval from Prime Minister Theresa May who is Mallett’s MP, the bike was stolen, as the entertainer sat with friends at his local the Kings Arms in Cookham, Berkshire.
The Wide Awake Club star has appealed for help on social media and told the Press Association: “Martin would have been 65 tomorrow and the loveliest thing would be to get the bike back tomorrow.”
And Mallett, who is offering what he described as a “substantial reward” for the bike’s return, added: “The irony is so awful. You can take it all over the world and yet at home it was not safe at the local village, in the lovely local pub.”
I've cycled half way across Europe on my Giant E bike carrying dear brother Martin's memorySecurely locked in my local pub car park last night it was taken. CCTV shows them.Heartbroken#findTimmeeeeEbike@bikeregister@GiantUK @MaidenheadAds @ThamesVP @TVP_Maidenhead pic.twitter.com/bpPQBPwk55
— Timmy Mallett (@TimmyMallett) August 4, 2018
He said: “I’m heartbroken. It’s more than just a bike to me. This bike I’ve cycled with 2,500 miles, halfway across Europe.
“I left in the depths of winter and it took two months. I was on my own and my bike was my best pal along the way, the only thing I could absolutely rely on.
“I’m devastated to lose something so special.”
Mallett was sitting in the garden of the pub with friends when the bike was stolen from a locked-up area in the car park.
“I’m not looking for retribution. I don’t know the circumstances of the people who took it. I’m appealing to somebody’s good nature to do the right thing,” he said.
Thank you so much https://t.co/rCdKUr7Txv
— Timmy Mallett (@TimmyMallett) August 6, 2018
“Every day on the pilgrimage you are vulnerable because you wake up each morning, not knowing where you are going to stay the night, who you are going to meet, what is going to happen and you are on your own and every day the bike delivered.
“There’s a possibility that someone who knows where the bike is has enjoyed my TV shows over the years and would like to reunite me with it.
“Whoever took this had no idea how important it is and they could never have known,” he said of the Giant E bike, which Mallett said he called Martin.
He said of the trip: “It was all about reaching your potential. My brother did that every day. Even with language and learning difficulties he made the most of each and every day.”
Mallett said that anyone who knows the whereabouts of the bike can contact database BikeRegister.