A businessman has spoken angrily about the sentence handed out to a man who ram-raided his Wantage motorcycle shop and has left him close to bankruptcy.

Troy Thomas, who opened TTR Motorcycles shortly before last Christmas, in Hans Avenue, claims he lost £4,600 as a result of the raid, but was unlikely to receive any compensation.

On the night of January 3, a van was reversed at speed into the front door of his showroom.

Police were quickly alerted by neighbours, who had already been encouraged by Mr Thomas to report any suspicious behaviour, after an earlier incident.

Last week, William Loveridge, 33, of Roxborough Drive, Didcot, pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court to the burglary, and to possessing a firearm and ammunition.

He was jailed for nine months for the attack on the motorcycle shop and another two years and nine months for possessing the firearm and ammunition. The sentences will run consecutively.

Mr Thomas, 41, who lives at White Horse Cottages, on the Ridgeway south of Wantage, first learned of Loveridge's jailing in Saturday's Oxford Mail.

He said: "I'm disgusted with the sentence he's got. I'm now struggling and it will probably bankrupt me. I'm not at all happy, but what can you do?"

He said the raid had left him £4,600 out of pocket, as insurance forms for the business, set up only weeks earlier, had not been returned to him, or the premiums paid in time.

He also complained the police had failed to keep him notified about the court case.

"They told me they had got him, but no-one has ever told me when he was going to court," he said. "Nobody's contacted me at all. I left it all in the hands of the police.

"I've had no correspondence at all, apart from a detective coming round to collect invoices showing what this has cost me."

The court heard that Loveridge, who pleaded guilty to the offences, had previous convictions including possession of a butterfly knife, possession of cocaine, criminal damage, and handling stolen goods.

Jan Davies, prosecuting, told the court: "He admitted he owned a handgun he bought three days earlier for £120, stating the ammunition and the barrel of the gun came from the same person."

Alistair Grainger, defending, said when he was asked what he planned to do with it, Loveridge told police: "I wasn't. I was just fascinated with it."