The boss of an electric bike shop who once used an army truck to recover a stolen bike has seized back another nicked cycle.

Ben Jaconelli, of online store Fully Charged, retrieved the £1,300 e-bike belonging to Alexandra Prut after she came into his store in floods of tears.

Her Benelli Classica was stolen from outside her home in Islington last month after her landlord told her she couldn’t have it in the house.

Ben, who runs Fully Charged from Haggerston, had his own e-bike pinched in 2014. But after the thief called him to get a battery charger he went round his house in a friend’s army truck and swiftly got it back.

And he was more than happy to help Alexandra.

“She came in to see me in floods of tears asking if there was anyway we could trace the bike and to be aware someone might try to buy a new battery,” he explained.

“The fact the battery was missing was a big clue to finding the bike and meant that the crook would face a near impossible challenge to get it going.”

By sheer coincidence Ben then spotted a Benelli bike on Hackney Road last week and confronted the “owner”.

He said: “I realised it was the same bike straight away as it was missing a battery and had been taped up with black tape to protect the insides from getting wet.

“I approached the guy and asked him where he got the bike from and I could tell he was instantly on his back foot.

“He told me his girlfriend got it for him as a present. He agreed he’d bought the bike very cheaply, maybe too cheaply, and understood it was stolen.”

Ben got the bike back and was thanked by Alexandra with a bottle of champagne.