[kellyhound]

Brave bystanders stopped thieves attempting to steal a £40,000 superbike parked in a busy central London square.

The suspects, clad in black and wearing crash helmets, pulled up on a moped and began cutting through the metal lock on the Ducati 1199 with an angle grinder, sending a shower of sparks into the air.

A biker in a neighbouring bay who confronted the duo was threatened with a claw hammer as one of the men lunged at him shouting: “If you come near me I will kill you.”

A growing crowd closed in as the two men tried to remove the heavy chain, while brandishing the angle grinder at anyone who dared get too close.

But as the would-be thieves pulled away, a delivery driver watching the drama pushed the moped from behind, catapulting the stolen superbike into the side of a passing van.

The suspect dumped the bike and jumped onto his accomplice’s scooter - before the pair sped into traffic under a barrage of traffic cones as the crowd gave chase.

Police were called and the owner of the Ducati was contacted to collect his bike.

Ron, who did not wish to give his surname, told the Standard of his relief that his “pride and joy” had been saved despite suffering several thousands of pounds of damage.

He said: “I park it in that same bay all the time and they must have scouted it out. I handbuilt a lot of it so I was so relieved it wasn’t taken.”

He praised the group for their actions, saying: “These thugs pulled out this ice-pick thing and started swinging at them, but unbelievably the guys still got involved and said ‘bugger off, leave it alone’.

“One of them literally stood up to having a diamond grinder waved in his face.

“When I heard about it I offered him a reward for being a total hero - but he refused. What a fantastic guy.”

He added: “But those guys will definitely come back now they know my bike’s there so I will be using Uber for a bit.”

The drama, which happened at around 2.30pm yesterday in Soho Square, was captured on camera by a tourist from Brazil walking back to his hotel from Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

Andreas Goetten, 30, said: “I wasn’t scared because I’m used to this thing happening where I’m from, but I was surprised to see it happen in London.

“Even in Brazil they wait until the night time before trying to steal any motorbikes.”

A Met spokesman confirmed police were called to an attempted theft near Greek Street but no arrests had been made.

[Susan]

I'm telling you straight, bruv.