Otley police are bringing back the bobby on the bike - in a pioneering sponsorship deal.

Otley-based Chevin Cycles Ltd has loaned a £300, 21-speed Ridgeback mountain bike to the town's police station for a year. And the firm says that if it proves successful it will be happy to continue with the scheme and may even expand it.

West Yorkshire's police cars are already sponsored by business but it is believed the Chevin Cycles deal is the first involving bicycles.

PC Tracy Ettershank thought of the idea.

She said: "Last summer we had a lot of shed and garage burglaries with the thieves making off along ginnels, avoiding any police on the roads in cars.

"Unlike cars, you can't hear a bike coming and I came up with the suggestion for a bike patrol so we can get down the snickets after the burglars when we see them.

"We also get a lot of vehicle break-ins at car parks in rural areas such as Otley Chevin - and a mountain bike is perfect for that sort of area rather than having officers sat in a plain car doing observations.

"At the time I was on foot patrol a lot of the time. I was covering quite a wide area and it could take 20 minutes to walk to a call that could have been reached in five on a bike.

"The police used to use bikes quite a lot and there was the old image of the bobby on a bike.

"This is reviving that in a modern way and although bikes are used by some officers we think this is the first time a business has sponsored one.''

PC Ettershank said using the bike would also help officers blend in at places such as Otley Chevin and the area's housing estates.

Chevin Cycles' managing director, Richard Peacock, said: "Anything that can help fight crime has to be a good thing and we see this as a way of helping the community.

"The bike will give them a bit more flexibility and help to keep the police fit - and if it results in a few arrests it will have done its job.

"Hopefully this will just be the start. If the scheme works, we'll be perfectly happy to continue it. And depending on how successful it proves, we might even expand it.''

Mr Peacock added hoped the idea would take off in other areas if it proved successful.

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