A man who has had two of a back-to-work charity's mopeds stolen in separate incidents has branded the thieves involved 'scum' after he was left without a way of getting to his new job.

Luke Falder, from Thetford, had a white Honda 110 moped stolen from outside his home in Mallow Road between 7pm on Friday and 1.30am the next morning.

The moped was the second the 28-year-old has seen stolen, with both the bikes being hired from Kickstart, a Dereham-based charity which helps people hire cheap transport to get to work and education.

He saw his first hire bike stolen from near a friend's house in Abbey Green.

That was weeks after he had just got back into work for Go Ape! at Thetford Forest in February, shortly after having been seriously ill at the end of last year.

He said the most recent theft left him with no way to get to work, and the prospect of not getting another moped.

'I need it to get to work and even though I've been helped out by friends and colleagues in the last few days, that's not a long-term solution.

'I've got to pay an excess on the insurance to Kickstart which wipes out my money, and they say they probably won't be able to give me another because of insurance issues,' he said.

Mr Falder said the first bike was found burnt out at Thetford's Priory, and he suspected the same fate for the second moped.

'I was really angry when I realised it had happened again because the people who are doing it are just joyriding them about.

'They are absolute scum in my mind, because they don't care about anyone else but themselves, or whether they put other people out of pocket,' he said.

Barry Lynes, rider co-ordinator for Kickstart, said the company would do what it could to help Mr Falder, but that its insurance company might not authorise another rental.

He said: 'We don't get a lot stolen and Thetford hasn't been an issue for us, considering we hire out 300 bikes across the region.

'They're not worth anything once they've been stolen and they are just taken for people to ride around on.

'Most of our riders are 18 to 24 and need the bikes to get into work, so this is really bad luck for Luke as we know he needs the bike for his new job.'

Anyone who may have information in relation to the theft should contact PC Caroline Whatmore at Thetford Police Station on 101.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.