AN Oxford Mail paperboy who was left devastated by the theft of his bike during his round has been reunited with it after an appeal in this paper.

Harvey Huggins, 13, from Kidlington, saved up more than £200 over six months to buy the bike, only for it to be stolen just before Christmas.

It was found dumped in the village a few weeks later on January 13, shortly after his family appealed online and in the Oxford Mail for its return.

Mum Helen Huggins said: “My neighbour’s son got in touch as his mate had messaged to say they think they had found the bike.

“It had been dumped a stone's throw away from where it was taken.

“I have a feeling after it was in the Oxford Mail somebody thought 'this is obviously hot'.

“It is a happy ending, we never thought we would see the bike again.

"I imagined it was far from Kidlington and been sold or destroyed. Harvey is just happy it's back.”

Mrs Huggins said the bike was returned a little grubby but the youngster has since cleaned it up and been out on his rounds.

Since appearing in the Oxford Mail, the family has also been inundated with replacement donations – including one offer of a new bike from California.

Mrs Huggins said: “The article definitely helped, as beforehand we had put up posters and put it online.

“The response has been amazing, there are genuinely, lovely people out there.

“I put it on social media and one lady offered her bike she said she planned to do up and sell.

“I had another lovely man offer to look over Harvey’s [replacement] bike to make sure it was safe to ride.”

The Oxford Mail was also contacted with a number of offers, including one of more than £250 all the way from America, from 68-year-old Brian Sadler.

The retired engineer offered to buy a new bike for Harvey after spotting the Oxford Mail story online.

He said: “Once in a while a tweet strikes a chord.

"When I was a young boy, I had a brief experience with delivering papers and admire this young man’s work ethic.

“I just didn’t want this experience to sour his belief in his admirable values.”

Mrs Huggins said: “From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank everyone for keeping an eye out, the very lovely offer from Brian which I was just speechless when I heard about.

“But also everyone else for their generous offers."