A woman whose daughter's bike was stolen in Norwich has made it her mission to try and track it after her granddaughter asked why there were so many bad people about.

Linda Sandell, 60, is desperately trying to track down her daughter's Giant Yukon mountain bike after it was stolen from a bike rack in the city.

The theft of the bike, belonging to her 36-year-old daughter Sarah, prompted Mrs Sandell's granddaughter to ask her why there were bad people about.

Mrs Sandell, who lives to the west of the city, said: "What can you say to a girl who's six years old?

"It's just wicked, absolutely wicked. I want to make this bike too hot to handle and am doing what I can."

Mrs Sandell has been calling round businesses and schools and has also posted details of the stolen cycle, which was worth £500 when it was bought, on social media to ensure people know it has been taken.

The bike was stolen from a bike rack on Opie Street on Tuesday afternoon.

Mrs Sandell said: "She went to work, went past at lunchtime and saw the bike on her way out but when she came back it had gone."

Mrs Sandell said her daughter called and asked if she could pick her up as the bike, which was locked up, had been stolen.

She said: "I don't think people realise the knock-on effect taking a bike has."

The theft has been reported to police but Mrs Sandell is not holding out much hope as she was told there was no CCTV in the area covering the bike rack and knew that "police don't have the manpower" to deal with this sort of thing anymore.

But she is urging anyone with information about the theft to get in touch with police and help recover the bike.

Norfolk police are investigating the theft.

Earlier this month it was revealed only one in 10 bike thieves are caught. Half of the 4,000 bike thefts in Norfolk over the last three years have been in the city, with a quarter in the city centre.

Hotspots include William Booth Street, the Haymarket, UEA, St Lawrence Lane, and Bank Plain.

But of the more than 2,000 bike thefts in Norwich in recent years, just 90 were solved.

Of those, almost a third were not prosecuted as it was "not in the public interest".