A Kent cyclist is celebrating after being reunited with a stolen bike he took on a 10,000 mile trip across Europe and Asia.

Saddle-sore Sam Swain, 22, took his Dawes Super Galaxy hybrid touring bike from Ireland to Japan - through Turkey and Iran - before riding it to India and Thailand.

He then travelled to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China and South Korea on the sturdy two-wheeler to fulfil a childhood dream.

But after he returned to Britain his beloved bronze-coloured bicycle was stolen from a bike rack just yards from where he now works.

Now, following worldwide media coverage, Sam is back together with his beloved two-wheeler.

His dad Mark, who had joined him on the trip, said: "Someone saw the news story on the internet, saw a picture of his bike and phoned him to say they thought they were looking at it chained to a post in St Paul's, Bristol.

"Sam went straight there, and it was his bike.

"The police came and the bike was soon returned to him."

Sam, whose family home is in Temple Road, Canterbury, completed the 10-month inter-continental journey with his father Mark, 54, (both pictured above) last year.

The self-funded expedition cost £12,000 and was in aid of Canterbury-based charity the Rising Sun Domestic Violence Project.

But the £1,000 bike was stolen on June 1 from a rack in Bristol's Quakers Friars as Sam was at work in nearby Italian restaurant Carluccio's.