London, July 25: After losing his bike recently, UK Opposition leader David Cameron said in a lighter vein that he would support invoking the Shariat Law for bike thefts.

According to The Mirror, after failing to trace his lost bike, the Tory boss jokingly said: "I am thinking of introducing Shariat law for bike theft. I will consult the Mayor of London."

In a video filmed by a passer-by, Cameron was seen impatiently searching for his missing bike, and lastly throwing up his arms at not finding it. Cameron said: "I have reported it but I''m not expecting to get it back any time soon. If anyone has seen it I would very much like it back. To me it was absolutely priceless," he said.

A shop-worker, on the condition of anonymity, said: "A couple of kids were hanging around and noticed he had chained it to a short bollard. They just picked it up and ran off."

Quansah, a security guard for a neighbouring store, said: "Bikes go missing all the time round here, at least one or two a week. But, Cameron couldn''t believe it had happened to him. At first he was checking other bikes chained up to see if any of them was his. Then he went into a bookmakers to see if anyone had seen who took it, but nobody had. He looked really embarrassed. A little crowd gathered and one guy asked if he could have his picture taken with him. But Cameron was too annoyed and said ''Not now, not now''. He''d been on his phone telling someone what had happened and eventually just threw his hands in the air and walked away."

The former public schoolboy boasted of his green credentials after announcing he cycled to work. But it was exposed as a sham when it was revealed that he was followed to Parliament by a car carrying clean shirts and his briefcase.

The Tory boss had loosely chained his mountain bike to a bollard as he popped into Tesco for his tea. Tesco said it would donate the value of Cameron''s five-year-old bike to transport charity Sustrans.

The number of bike stolen in London is quite alarming. In 2005, a total of 21,437 bikes were stolen, but the number went down to 17,558 last year, which is a fall of around 18 percent. (ANI)