THESE are the shocking moments a pair of would-be thieves were captured on CCTV trying to rip a motorbike from its chains in a front garden.

Tyler Hughes, 18, installed CCTV cameras outside his home in Markhams Chase, Laindon, after his girlfriend’s mum disturbed five youths, who were standing around his motorbike days earlier.

Taking no chances, Mr Hughes, an engineer, put up the cameras facing his black Yamaha 125 in case it happened again.

Just over a week later, it was tampered with again.

The camera picked up images of a group of youths slowly walking by the house before two boys approached the front garden from an opposite alleyway.

It is believed that the boys were part of the earlier group.

The pair then walked up the bike and tried to yank it away from a metal pole, before one even sat on it and tried to push it with his legs.

An alarm on the bike was then activated, causing the pair to run away from the scene.

Mr Hughes said: “This is the second time this has happened.

“They tried it one Friday. I didn’t see it happen but my girlfriend’s mum saw them.

“She saw five kids standing around my bike and she pulled up in the car, shouted at them to get away and they ran off.

“That’s when I decided to get CCTV. I was concerned that it was going to get stolen.

“In the second incident, two of them came up to the bike and tried to steal it. They broken my handlebars and my ignition barrel - it’s probably about £200 worth of damage.

“I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it had actually happened.”

Mr Hughes was at home at the time the would-be thieves struck and was alerted to the commotion thanks to the bike’s alarm.

He said: “I was in the bedroom at the time.

“The alarm went off and I saw them get up and run off.

“I ran out there and shouted at them that they were on CCTV.”

One of the boys had black hair and was wearing a grey hooded top, grey jogging bottoms and white trainers.

The other wore his hood up with a scarf around his face.

So far, no arrests have been made and enquiries are continuing.

The latest attempted theft happened at 7.30pm on Saturday, May 20.

Any witnesses or anyone with information can call Essex Police on 101 or independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.