A SELFLESS act from a man looking to raise money for charity has turned into heartbreak after his beloved motorbike was stolen.

Rowland Hickey, built his Suzuki rf900 himself two years ago, but after being diagnosed with cancer was unable to ride his prized possession.

The 59-year-old took the decision to raffle of the bike in bid to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and The Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

However, before it could be raffled off the bike was stolen from his property in Owen Way, Rooksdown, in broad daylight last Tuesday (July 30).

The father-of-three said: “I had left my girlfriend's house, which is right around the corner around 9.15am to head home and the bike was still there.

“We were only gone a few hours and we came back to check the post and I had noticed that the bike had gone.

“I was completely shocked, considering it was padlocked and had a steering lock, so the fact it was taken in board daylight I couldn’t believe it.”

The bike has a lot of sentiment to Mr Hickey, as it was the first bike he built, and he used it to ride to Scotland and back.

The grandfather who recently found out that he has lung cancer and was given the devastating news that he may only have six months left to live, having already fought throat cancer.

He said: “I just feel awful as it means I am not going to be able to fulfil my promise of giving the bike away to charity.

“A lot of people had brought raffle tickets but since they heard the news that the bike was stolen, they have been really kind and told me not to worry about it.”

Hampshire Constabulary said they are appealing for any information about the motorbike, which has a sticker on it saying 'Built, not bought'.

If any has any information they are asked to contact police on 101 quoting 44190267719.