A YOUNG racing prodigy is ‘devastated’ after being forced to sit out the start of the motocross season after his dirt bike was stolen in an overnight raid.

Owen Gray, 15, of Spurwells in Ilton, woke last Thursday to find the garden shed had been broken into and his most prized possession, a green Kawasaki KX motorbike, gone.

Police are now appealing to the public to help them track down the stolen motocross bike, with anybody who knows someone trying to sell a dirt bike in the area asked to contact 101.

Dan Gray, Owen’s dad, said: “I woke up on Thursday morning and the shed was open with the locks cut off.

“The bike is my son’s and he races. This weekend was supposed to be the first week of competitions.

“He is 15 and he has been riding for about five years. We normally race with Ringwood Motocross Club in the South West.”

Ringwood MXC’s racing calendar for 2017 started with an event in Bere Regis on March 5.

The club has 18 meetings this year, although Owen doesn’t know if he will be able to compete in any of them.

Dan added: “Due to it being an off-road bike you cannot get insurance on them, so we now do not know what is going to happen with his racing as we really can’t afford to buy him a new bike.

“We don’t know what we are going to do or if we are even going to be able to replace it. Owen is devastated.

“It is all he lives for.

“My wife and I both work hard to pay for Owen to do motocross as it is his passion. We are gutted for him.”

Owen is sponsored by Samsun Lobe, Westport Ironworks, Dan’s Window Cleaners, JLS Heating and Electrical Ltd and Clive Gray Financial.

The break in is believed to have happened in the early hours in Thursday morning.

A police spokesman said: “A garden shed was broken into between 10pm on March 1 and 6am on March 2.

“A motocross bike was stolen. As a result we have done a lot of house-to-house enquiriesin the area. We would encourage anyone with any information or who knows someone trying to sell a motocross bike to call 101 with the crime reference number 5217046399.”