A Canvey Island bike shop has changed its rules on test rides after a man rode off on a £5,300 e-bike in the lead-up to Christmas.

The Echo reports that the incident occurred at Les’s Cycles on December 16 at around 1.50pm.

Owner Paul Diani said: “The man came into the store on Thursday and wanted to try a high-end electric bike.

“He took it out and then on the way back just rode right past the staff who gave chase and was out for about 15 minutes.

“It’s a Scott Randsome 920 and is high end with full suspension and high technology gears and other features. We don’t get them in often and they do sell quickly when we do.

“It’s normal for them to sell for this much money and for shoppers to want to try out the bikes too. I don’t know if he had a van or anything or if it was planned or anything.

“He was pretty tall and was wearing a mask and cap too and seemed like a normal chap.”

Diani said he buys bikes on credit and will need to sell about 10 bikes to make the money back.

“We will be asking for people’s car keys and identification too, otherwise nobody will get a ride on the bikes,” he added.

Last month we reported how a teenager masquerading as a would-be buyer had ridden away during a test ride of a privately-owned e-bike that was for sale in Kent.

More recently, BikeBiz reports that two Whyte e-bikes were stolen from Alf Jones Cycles in Wrexham. The shop said the men were using fake passports as security to test ride the bikes and warned other retailers to be wary.