TWO?local families have had their Christmases ruined thanks to heartless thieves who broke into premises near Usk and stole £15,000 worth of tools and equipment including a motocross bike which had been bought as a Christmas gift.

Vikki Lynch and her partner Craig were storing the surprise gift in a lock up belonging to their friends Malinka Stevens and her partner Khan when it was broken into last week.

Malinka and Khan run their own utility business, and use their lock-up as a place to house all of their equipment. and were distraught to discover that on Wednesday night last week, it had been entered and a large number of items stolen.

Among the missing goods was the Suzuki 50 quad bike they bought for their son last Christmas, and the KTM 50 motocross bike that her friend Vikki had bought for her son Rylee, aged six.

Also taken were two Honda CR 250s that belong to Khan and Craig.

Malinka told the Chronicle, "When I heard what had happened I couldn't believe it. We estimate that £15,000 of equipment was taken, but what hurt the most was that the kids' bikes were also stolen.

"Kanaan has only had his quad last Christmas, and Rylee was going to get his for Christmas this year.

Vikki added, "When I heard I felt physically sick. My partner Craig has been working all hours to save up for this to make Christmas special for our three kids, and now our son Rylee will have a huge disappointment on Christmas morning.

"On top of that, it is his birthday this Saturday and we are dreading having to disappoint him."

The break in was discovered on Thursday afternoon after Khan went to the lock-up when he finished work in Bristol for the day.

Police attended and forensic teams have examined the scene, but with no clues to help the police Malinka and Vikki have now turned to social media in an attempt to get their property back.

The heartbroken mothers are urging people to be on the look-out in the hope that they can get their bikes back ahead of Christmas, and thanks to the help of their friends the plea has gone viral, attracting the attention of a Rhondda couple who own the business 'My Childs Birthday' who are in the process of setting up a fund to help replace the bikes. They have also offered to host a free child's party for the couples.

Vikki said, "All of the support we have had has been amazing, but we just are praying and hoping that the bikes can be found and returned so our families can have a good Christmas. This really has ruined it, and I find it appalling that someone could do this, to spoil the Christmas of young children."

The police are still yet to find any leads in their search for the items or those who committed the burglary, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Chronicle, or find Malinka Stevens on Facebook.

Malinka added, "Anyone with information please get in touch, to help us save this Christmas."