A TEENAGER who had two bikes stolen in the just as many weeks has blamed lax security at one of Preston's main retail parks for the loss of his cycles.

Andrew Thompson, 17, from Dukes Meadow, Ingol, Preston, had a £200 Silver Barracuda mountain bike and a £300 British Eagle mountain bike stolen from Deepdale Retail Park where he works as a sales assistant.

Now he says he cannot afford to fork out on bus fares to get to and from work.

Andrew, who works for Soccer Sports at the retail park most weekends, explained: "The compound where I park my bike is directly behind the row of shops. There's a padlock on it, but the thieves just climb over the fence because there's a load of building material next to it, which makes it easy for people to pinch the bikes. "It would cost me £4 a day to travel to and from work by bus, but what's the point? I only get £10 a day because I don't do that many hours. I'm fed up with the whole thing now. I think security should be tightened. There's no lights or cameras where we park our bikes.

"It's too easy for criminals. The security at the park seems to be non-existent."

Police have agreed to step up patrols in the area following reports of the thefts.

A spokesperson for Soccer Sports said: "Unfortunately, the security is done by an external company, and Soccer Sports are not responsible for the security of employee's belongings."

The Citizen was given a telephone number from Soccer Sports to contact the security firm, but no-one was available for comment.