A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy’s sadness turned to joy after an anonymous donor replaced a stolen bicycle.

Two children’s bikes and a toy ride-on motorcycle belonging to Billy Haines were taken from a back garden in Knights Road, Blackbird Ley, Oxford.

The boy was left distraught when he discovered they had been stolen from a shed when he was getting ready to ride to school last Thursday.

But his distress was short-lived as an anonymous donor spent £50 on a new Toys-R-Us bike for him less than 24 hours after they heard about the theft on social media.

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Mum Kylie Probets, 26, said: “It’s just overwhelming.

“I came down and told Billy to get his bike for school.

“He went out there and they were gone. He was really upset.”

Miss Probets, also mum to five-year-old Leo, added: “But he was so excited when he got the new bike, he had a massive grin on his face.

“I’m lost for words. I don’t know what I’d say to the donor. He put that smile back on my little boy’s face. It’s priceless.”

The donation came about after Billy’s grandmother, Shona Probets, found out about the theft and took to Facebook.

She told other users of the “Items for sale in Blackbird Leys” Facebook group about the incident, adding: “Please contact me if you are offering any children’s bikes cheap.”

The 49-year-old said: “It was a deterrent really.

“I know lots of people try to sell things on Facebook and I didn’t want these thieves to be able to sell Billy’s bikes.

“A post on Facebook makes everybody aware of what’s going on.”

Mrs Probets, who also lives in Blackbird Leys, said: “Then I started getting a lot of responses from people.

“About 15 people said they had old bikes that Billy could use.

“We were arranging to go and pick one up when someone emailed me.

“He said he’d left a £50 gift card in our name at Toys-R-Us for us to go and choose Billy a new bike.

“It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it.”

Billy’s mum said that apart from his main bike the thieves took one he had outgrown and a bright green plastic toy motorbike he only got for his birthday in January. They had been left padlocked.

Police appealed for anyone with information to contact them on 101.