Sammy’s stolen bike: Popular Newbury street cleaner appeals for help to find missing bike

A popular town centre worker is asking for help to find his stolen bike, writes Dan Colquhoun.

Newbury street cleaner Sammy Wasuwa has recently had his bike stolen from the town centre.

Mr Wasuwa, 62, had left his bike near Market Place at approximately 8.30am on Friday (August 30), while he popped into a shop.

But when he returned to the bike to continue his route to work, it was nowhere to be found.

Mr Wasuwa said the bike was a blue Specialized mountain bike and he had recently had new tyres fitted.

He is now appealing for anyone with any information or if anyone has seen a bike of that description in the last few days to let him know.

Mr Wasuwa, who was a winner of the BBC Berkshire Environmental Award in 2022, became a local celebrity during lockdown when he featured on the front page of the Newbury Weekly News continuing to clean the streets of Newbury despite the vast majority of people remaining in their homes as a result of the government restrictions.

If anybody out there has spotted a bicycle matching this description then please let us know by emailing newsdesk@newburynews.co.uk

Mr Wasuwa moved to Newbury from Kenya in 2003 and initially worked as a chef.

He has worked in his current role for Veolia for 16 years now and said he used the bike every day to get to work.

Despite the theft of his latest bike, which follows the disappearance of four others over the years, he said he continues to enjoy life in Newbury.