A MOTORCYCLIST is devastated after arsonists destroyed his prize bike.

David Owen was woken in the early hours of the morning to discover firefighters hosing down his Honda CBR 600.

It was one of two fires started by vandals who went on a wrecking spree around Weymouth’s Park District yesterday.

Yard operative Mr Owen, of Stanley Street, used the bike to get to work at a chemical company in Holton Heath and was a regular at the weekly Dream Machines motorcycle gathering on Poole Quay.

He could often be seen tinkering with the bike and polishing it.

Mr Owen, 25, said the bike, which he bought from his father six years ago for £1,000, could only have been worth a few hundred pounds now but explained that it was of ‘sentimental value’.

He said: “The fire has wrecked all down one side. I’m not sure what the engine is like but I’ll have to scrap it. It’s a shame because I loved the bike.

“It was my pride and joy.”

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the blaze at 2.10am yesterday – 10 minutes after the brigade had been made aware of another malicious fire when a pile of rubbish was set alight in an alleyway behind Ranelagh Road.

The vandalism kept firefighters busy as two fire engines had to be called out at different times and other crews were put on standby to cover the town.

The rubbish fire in the alleyway was reported by Dave Burchill of Ranelagh Road who phoned 999 when he heard ‘explosions’ and saw smoke and flames behind his house.

He said: “I’m sure what was contained in the rubbish but I could hear cracking and things exploding.

“It burnt a hole through the garden gate.

“The firefighters used a ladder to get over the wall so they could fight the flames from both sides.”

The Park district has been blighted by rubbish problems due to seagulls attacking refuse sacks left out for collection.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has been working with residents to alleviate the problem and has issued households with special bags in which to store their sacks.

Mr Burchill is a member of the Waterside Weymouth Community Forum and a former chairman of the area’s Partners and Communi-ties Together (PACT) panel.

He said the seagull-busting bags had been welcomed by the community but he said some people were still not using them.

Members of the forum will be distributing them around the estate tomorrow evening.

Witnesses and anyone with information about the fires can contact PC Steve Blackmore of Weymouth police in confidence on 01305 222222.