The wife of Brighton and Hove city centre manager Tony Mernagh has foiled a bike theft.

Pat Mernagh, owner of The Animal House in Bond Street, spotted two men acting suspiciously near a bike park in an alley next to her shop.

She noticed the padlock on one of the bikes had been cut and grabbed a two-way radio link city centre traders use to alert the police and other businesses.

The two would-be thieves took one look at the radio, realised they had been rumbled and fled.

Mrs Mernagh took the bike into her shop for safekeeping and left a note telling the owner where it was.

Beauty therapist Elaine Ghoneim, who has a studio in Bond Street, was full of praise for Mrs Mernagh's prompt action after she collected her bike.

She said: "I had only just bought the bike the day before. My previous one was stolen four weeks ago.

"It was the first day I had taken the bike to work with me and I thought it would be safe in the bike park.

"I bought a padlock with a code, thinking that would be safer than other types.

"But it just goes to show that no bike is safe if a thief is determined to steal it.

"I am really grateful to Mrs Mernagh for what she did and for keeping the bike safe for me."

Mrs Mernagh, a member of the city's Retail Crime Initiative, said: "I was on the way back to the shop when I saw two men acting suspiciously.

"Our window overlooks the bike park and when I got back to the shop I noticed that the padlock on one of the bikes had been cut.

"One of the men had a scruffy black leather bag with him which had obviously contained bolt cutters.

"I grabbed the Shopwatch radio and waved it at them through the window.

"They obviously knew what it was used for because they hurried off immediately."

The radio link used by Mrs Mernagh is part of Shopwatch, a scheme set up by city traders and backed by the police.

It is used by traders to warn each other when known shoplifters and other criminals are operating in the city.

Earlier this year the scheme lead to six persistent shoplifters being banned from stores.

An exclusion zone was set up and the suspects were warned they would face prosecution for trespass if they entered any of the shops inside it.