A reformed gang member turned cyling champion is hoping to use his passion for bikes to turn youngsters away from lives of crime.

Roy Savery, 77 , wants to set up a bicycle repair shop in Croydon and train troubled youths to take over and run the business.

Mr Savery, who bagged two bronze medals in the World Masters Track Championship over-75s category in October, was himself jailed for theft in 1949 but turned his back on gangs and crime.

The grandfather-of-two now wants to help young people who have fallen foul of the law to get a fresh start.

His scheme, Bicycle Recycle, would see a team of young offenders repair old and damaged bikes and sell them on for reuse.

Mr Savery, who lives in Tatsfield, said: "I want to help these people. A lot of them don't know how to help themselves and a lot of them don't feel like they need to.

"These people have a set mind and somehow or other we have got to try to transform that into them being part of society and actually making society better, rather than being a cause of the problems in society."

"I'm 77 and I don't necessarily want to work in a shop at 77. I would prefer that to give somebody a foot in the door and then they take over it and run it."

Mr Savery, who has been cycling since he was 13, is to team up with the Langley House Trust to find young offenders keen to learn new skills and get their lives back on track.

He said: "When I was in trouble with the police, nothing was going on in my house. My father was away in the war so I didn't really have any father figure in my life. I didn't know any better.

"Cycling took me away from London. I learned that it is nicer to win."

Mr Savery is now appealing for a Croydon property owner to play a part by lending a suitable building free of charge until Bicycle Recyle has got off the ground, with the promise of rent when it becomes profitable.

He said: "It would be a community organisation which is there for the benefit of the people. We are not here to make billions but to help people, especially the disadvantaged."