Whanganui boy's stolen Christmas bike recovered; charges likely

Jansen Pears is thrilled to be back on his BMX and is offering to pay it forward with a donated mountain bike.

A Whanganui boy is overjoyed that his new BMX bike, a Christmas present from his dad, has been returned after it was stolen from his home.

Eleven-year-old Jansen Pears' brand new bike was stolen from the Aramoho property on December 30 when someone climbed over shut gates and stole it from the driveway.

Jansen's mum, Wendy Coley, appealed via social media for help to track down the bike and spoke with the Whanganui Chronicle in the hope someone may have seen it.

The family were overwhelmed with offers of help from around New Zealand and overseas.

"I can't believe the emails and messages we got that came from all over the world," Ms Coley said.

"It was amazing. We accepted the first offer we received of a replacement bike. We got a lot of other kind offers from people who wanted to donate a bike or cash."

The family had accepted a mountain bike from a Paeroa woman whose son no longer used it when Whanganui police contacted them to say Jansen's BMX had been found.

"I didn't tell Jansen until it was confirmed it was definitely his bike," Ms Coley said.

"His dad took in the serial number and it matched. When I told Jansen you could see happy tears in his eyes. He was so excited. The bike has a few scratches but no major damage."

With the mountain bike already on its way to Whanganui, Ms Coley contacted the donor to say Jansen's bike had been recovered.

"She was happy for us to still have the mountain bike so we decided we would give it to another boy who needs a bike," Ms Coley said.

Ms Coley intends to offer the mountain bike on social media site Pay it Forward Wanganui for a local boy aged 10-12 years.

Sergeant Aaron Bunker of Whanganui police said no one had yet been charged in relation to the BMX theft but charges were likely.