Jeremy Clarkson's bike finds a welcome home

4.35.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 29th Oct 2007

When Jeremy Clarkson returned the bicycle given to him by Tom Brake, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington donated it to one of his local charities, EcoLocal to find a worthy recipient through its BikeStreet service which trains young people in cycle maintenance, interviewing and communication skills.

BikeStreet teamed up with the Sutton Guardian Newspaper to give young people of the borough the opportunity to demonstrate that they are the most worthy recipient and 16 year old Jack Stewart was the lucky winner.

Jack explained why he deserved to win Jeremy Clarkson's bicycle:

"Firstly I would like to say how silly and non-eco friendly Mr Clarkson is. If I was given the opportunity to be able to have a fantastic bike I would take it and use it wisely. I would put the bike to better use than Mr Jeremy Clarkson because I would ride anywhere and everywhere to keep me fit and to keep our planet fit.

"I have been saving up for a bike for a very long time but still don't have enough to get a good quality one. I belong to an Air Cadets which is in Sutton and now the evenings are lighter I would like to be able to ride a bike there. So if I won the briefly owned bike my mum wouldn't have to drive me to places and waste precious petrol that is polluting our atmosphere and our lungs.

"I would also set an example (unlike Jeremy Clarkson) for everyone to follow. From this sentence perhaps Jeremy might have second thoughts!"

The bicycle plus its manual signed by Jeremy Clarkson himself was presented to Jack by EcoLocal Trustee Tom Brake MP.

Commenting Tom Brake said, "I am relieved the bike has finally found a caring home. If it had been left with Jeremy, he would only have driven a steam-roller over it or dropped it from a cliff to see how high it would bounce!"