A YORK company has come to the rescue of a ten-year-old boy who was distraught when thieves stole his new bike.

Jason Watson, of Moorland Gardens, Copmanthorpe, York, had spent 18 months saving up for his dream bike, a pale blue BMX Ruption.

But only two days after buying the bike, it was stolen when he left it for two minutes at the side of the bridge in Acaster Lane, Bishopthorpe.

Gaswise (training and assessment) Ltd in Osbaldwick, a new company which trains gas workers to become Corgi-registered, read about Jason's plight in the Evening Press. The company then decided to buy him a new BMX bike to replace the one which had been snatched by thieves.

Colin Smith and Paul Hanson, of Gaswise, handed the new BMX bike over to the delighted Jason at the firm's premises on Osbaldwick Industrial Estate.

Jason's mother, Deborah, said she could not thank Gaswise enough.

She said: "Jason is ecstatic. I had been looking at bikes on the Internet, but we just couldn't afford to get him another one. I felt so sorry for him when it was taken. The day it happened he just sobbed in my husband's arms."

She said Jason, who was staying with his grandmother, Wendy Hall, when the bike was taken, had wanted a BMX for two years and had been heartbroken when it was taken away from him.

"He has had to learn the hard way. I'm sure he won't be letting his new bike out of his sight," she added.

Gaswise were not the only ones who read Jason's story and wanted to help out.

The Factory Cycle Shop at Clifton Moor, York, supplied him with a new bike lock to keep his new BMX secure.

Mrs Watson said she wanted to thank two Evening Press readers who contacted the family. Juliet Crawley Peck had offered Jason some money to put towards a new bike and a man called Mr Cooper had offered him his son's old mountain bike.

Updated: 08:32 Wednesday, May 14, 2003