A FAMILY is calling for help to find a motorbike stolen on the same night they lost thousands of pounds of equipment in a workshop blaze.

Scott Henniker and his children slept through the blaze in their Parkeston garden on October 22.

The flames destroyed 42-year-old Mr Henniker’s workshop, where he kept tools, a multi-gym and the family’s prize possessions of motorbikes and quadbikes.

“I was absolutely gutted,” said Mr Henniker, of Foster Street.

“The heat was that intense that the motorbikes all melted – it cracked the bathroom window.

“It was the night with the high winds and the firemen said if the wind had changed direction, it could have spread to the house and we could have died because we didn’t wake up.

“The kids all had protective gear in there, and there were eight bikes, probably £10,000 to £15,000-worth of equipment in there.”

The family believe one bike, belonging to ten-year-old Jaden, was stolen from the workshop before it was set on fire.

Anyone with information about the fire or theft should call PC James Stockley, at Harwich police station, on 101.