A LEIGH pensioner was devastated when he left a Salvation Army celebration service to find his rare electric trike had been stolen.

Seventy-years-old Ben Lowton secured the blue battery-operated machine to the wall of the Cook Street Hall on Saturday evening while he took part in anniversary worship.

When he left at 7.45pm he was devastated to find the trike had been smashed free.

It was later reported spotted in the Abbey Lane area of Leigh being ridden by a youth with another sat in the back basket.

The bike theft was the second to hit the family this month. Two weeks ago thieves stole his pensioner wife Moreen's urgently-needed blue shopper from outside a store in Market Street, Leigh.

Mr Lowton, of Glebe Street, had just replaced this vehicle for Moreen, who suffers from arthritis and can ride better than she can walk, when his own only means of transport vanished.

He bought the unusual £800 trike just before Christmas and was thrilled with it. It was one of only three registered with police in the area, and the only blue one.

Daughter Ruth Lowton said: "Dad is so upset about this it is untrue. Thieves don't realise the devastation they cause by their stupid, thoughtless action.

"Both my parents have been bike riders since they married and they have been their only means of transport. They don't drive.

"We have had reports that the bike has been seen in Westleigh and we hope someone can help get it back. It runs off a battery and would be useless to the thieves after it went flat."

The theft has been reported and if anyone can help trace the trike they should contact Leigh police.