A MOTORBIKE salesman sold a string of hapless bikers their longed-for dream machines - knowing full well they would be stolen within days.

Unknown to his employers, Christopher Davison, 24, passed on to burglars the addresses of bikers who bought or serviced their machines at his workplace.

The result was the theft of 75 high-powered bikes worth £300,000. No fewer than 20 of the victims came from the York or Selby areas.

A second man, Tony Hill, 24, formerly of Eggborough, near Selby, had also hatched a plan with Davison to buy legitimate bike frames and put stolen bike components on to them.

But Davison and Hill were brought to justice by the diligence of a North Yorkshire detective - and each must now serve a four-and-a-half-year jail term after they appeared at Doncaster Crown Court and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.

Davison admitted being involved in 54 of the motorbike burglaries and Hill admitted being involved in 30 of them

Crime intelligence analyst Helen Reed, based at Selby police station, was the downfall of Davison and Hill.

Mrs Reed said: "I started monitoring the motorbike burglaries because they were not being recovered, and the thieves were targeting garages where they knew bikes were being kept.

"This led to the setting up of Operation Accord, the common factor being Premier Bikes at Askern, near Doncaster.

"We spoke to all the complainants and discovered that a lot of them had bought their bikes or had them serviced at Premier."

Detective Constable John Humphries, who led the two-year investigation, said the expensive high-powered sport bikes were the "ultimate dream machines", capable of speeds up to 170mph.

Speaking after the court hearing, he said the burglaries had been committed at the owners' garages and the bikes had been stolen despite state-of-the-art security measures.

Davison, who was employed at Premier Bikes as a motorcycle salesman, admitted that he had provided the burglars with home addresses of customers who had bought motorcycles from Premier Bikes. For every successful burglary, he was paid £100.

DC Humphries said: "Davison was the insider at Premier Bikes. There is no suggestion that any other member of staff was involved.

"It's obscene when you think he sold them the bike of their dreams, knowing that within a fortnight they would be stolen.

"His accomplice Hill, a biker himself, visited Premier Bikes on a regular basis and hatched a plan with Davison."

Of the 75 bikes stolen, only 12 have been recovered.

Premier Bikes said today it was glad that Davison had been jailed after "betraying" their trust.

A company spokesman said: "The police did an excellent job and we fully cooperated with them.

"We have also been a victim of crime ourselves. Three motorbikes were also stolen from our Askern premises after Davison showed some customers round."

Updated: 15:00 Friday, July 25, 2003