Piers Morgan has offered to donate £1,000 to charity if a Big Ben London Marathon costume is returned to its owner.
The ‘Good Morning Britain’ presenter has been left outraged after the outfit went missing from The Old Shades pub, near London’s Trafalgar Square, where runner Lukas Bates, 30, went to celebrate completing the 26.2-mile race.
Lukas went viral on Sunday (28.04.19) when video footage of his 10ft costume’s spire getting stuck on some of the finishing line’s scaffolding was shared around the world – and Piers is keen to see the ensemble returned to its owner.
Speaking on ‘GMB’ this morning (30.04.19), he said: "Where do you hide a 10ft high Big Ben? I am offering a £500 reward just enough to tempt people out to frame him. Whoever the thief is.
"Let’s make it a thousand. I’ll offer a thousand pound reward of my own money for the safe return of the Big Ben."
While it’s not known what happened to the costume, Piers is "sickened" at the thought that someone could potentially steal the outfit after Lukas’ charity run.
He said: "He runs 26 miles to the finishing line, we know what happens, this disaster, he crashes into the finishing line roof.
"So when you thought that couldn’t get any worse, he finally gets under, goes to the pub to celebrate and while he’s in the pub, someone nicks Big Ben. Gone.
"Imagine stealing Big Ben from a marathon runner. How sick have you got to be? If anyone has seen a large cardboard Big Ben can you please us and we will return it to this poor bloke who has run for charity."
In the comical clip, Lukas tried to bend down to fit through the finish line but had to be assisted by a marathon official, and a fellow runner also offered a helping hand. He finally made it across the line.
Speaking about his finishing issue, Lukas told ITV London: "I was thinking there’s going to be no problems at all – I’ve done the hard bit.
"When it happened, I realised what had happened, but I couldn’t really see particularly well because my costume was pointed down at this point.
"There’s obviously a fanfare of sounds around me with everyone finishing and it was all very confusing."
Piers Morgan offers £1k reward for Big Ben Marathon costume return
