Thousands of people across Manchester have embraced our new Mobikes - but Neil Wilkinson has taken his dedication to a new level.

Neil has been using the bike rental scheme every day and was gutted when he discovered that some were being thrown into rivers and canals.

So he took matters into his own hands and decided to rescue the bikes himself.

Our footage taken today shows him fishing his fifth bike from Salford Quays - and he’s not planning to stop his Mobike heroism any time soon.

His first attempt earlier this month saw him waist deep in his swimming trunks.

He’s since devised an ingenious contraption using a fishing rod, rope and a plastic bottle.

By attaching them together, he loops the bottle around the bike’s body and the buoyancy brings the bottle to the surface - looping the rope in the process.

This gives him enough traction to hoist the frames from the water.

Neil, 36, said: “Mobike is really cool and it’s actually got me back into cycling. I work near MediaCity and use them to get around.

“When I saw stories about people breaking locks and smashing them I thought it was such a shame.

“Then I saw someone Tweet about a bike in the water and recognised it was by Salford Quays tram stop and near my work so I went to have a look.

“It was quite shallow, and I’m a strong swimmer - I wouldn’t recommend anyone else try this - so I drove up with my wife at the weekend and saved it.”

Neil handed the bike over to a Mobike bike collector - and he’s now streamlined his one-man operation.

Neil added: “I had a think. If I were a kid where would I throw them in? And I thought it would be where there are no barriers, so I started looking for them and spotted another four during a lunch break. That’s when I came up with the idea of using the fishing rod. The bottle eventually pops off and loops the line round the tyre. I’m quite proud of the invention.”

Mobike has met with Neil, a manager at a computer-based testing firm, to collect all the bikes he’s rescued so far.

He added: “The bikes were actually okay and the lights were still working on all of them which is pretty impressive.

“It’s frustrating that people are doing this - I’m hoping it will get better when the schools go back, it’s just a few people spoiling it for the majority. I think the scheme’s really good and they just look so sad sitting at he bottom of the water. I figured nobody else was going to get them out, it’s just a way of helping out.”

Since July, there have been 69 vandalism incidents reported to Mobike. The firm is working with GMP and turning cases of vandalism into ‘positive learning experiences’ for those involved.

Steve Pyer, UK General Manager, said vandalism was a problem during every new city launch, but that issues always decrease.

He added: “It is the case for Manchester - the amount of vandalism reports stabilised a few weeks into the scheme, and is now steadily declining.”

He said the scheme is used properly by the majority of people in Manchester and Salford, with positive feedback from individuals, as well as businesses and community centres looking to partner with them.

He said it had been so successful they are looking to expand the scheme, adding: “We’ll communicate on this in more details in the next few weeks.”