Legal advice on getting my pit bike back?

[wendlesora]

Ok so basically about 8 or 9 months ago there was an incident, where I gave a friend my pit bike to take to someone who wanted to buy it, he was due to leave early in the morning and I gave it to him the afternoon before he was due to leave. Basically, without going into too much detail the van was taken from him and after the police did their thing the van (with his stock and my pit bike in the back) was returned to the van rental company. After a couple of weeks of phone calls they asked me to provide proof of ownership for the bike which I did, however the back of the van was inaccessible and there was nobody around who could move the trailer that was blocking it, so I agreed to wait until there was someone around to move it so that I could remove my bike from the van and take it back. However a month went by and I had still heard nothing, also the incident in which the van was crashed had been to court so I phoned the company up again, this time to be told that they have been instructed that nobody (not even me) was allowed to go into the back of the van! The only was around this was to phone their head office. So I did so and after a long heated phone call with the owner (I believe) we finally came to the conclusion which I was to email him a copy of my proof of ownership and call him back. So I emailed the receipts and invoices I had for the bike and tried to call him back (this is where the bullskit started!). Every time since this first phone call that I have tried to contact him his secretary has attempted to 'put me through' then returned saying he is either out of the office, or in a meeting, or in another phone call. I have been instructed by the police and solicitors to write a letter, however I am unsure of what to say really. I will add the letter underneath this and all I ask is that someone with a legal background or experience to check this over and tell me if I should add/remove anything, or if anything I have said is unreasonable as I want to get this right the first time. (all names and locations have been removed and replaced with 00000s

(my address)
(my contact numbers)

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing today in reguards to my Pit Bike that is being held in one of your vans at your 000000000 branch. I have tried on numerous occasions to contact you and get my bike back but all have failed. After seeking various forms of legal help (i.e. solicitors and the police), I have been advised that this letter is my last resort before taking this matter further (i.e. court).

I have been told that in this letter I should state, very clearly, that I have NOTHING to do with the incident in which your van was taken from Mr. 000000000000, and crashed. I have also been told that during the court hearing you should have mentioned that an independant third parties property was being held in the back of the van, and in turn they would have instructed you to release it immediately. Also, witholding such information is actually illegal and, since I STILL have not got my bike back, it was clearly not mentioned to them. Just to top that off, the police have also told me that Mr. 00000000000 should have recieved his stock back as the incident has been to court, however this is none of my business and I am merely concerned about my bike!

I have been instructed that I should give you 7 days from reciept of this letter to arrange for my bike to be returned to me, and (since you have taken it upon yourselves to hold my bike for the last 8 or 9 months) that all damages caused by this should be paid for in full! Failure to do this will be taken as you accepting that this is an act of theft, and as a result of this I will be expecting that you either pay for the bike, or return it and pay for all damages to be repaired and also pay statutory interest of 7.5% per week based on the value of the bike when it was new (just over a month before you gained posession of it).

I do not feel that this request is unreasonable as it could have been avoided if you returned my bike to me after the first phone call that I made. You have already seen proof of ownership you should need nothing more and if you did you should have contacted me and asked for it. You can contact me either in writing or by phone, however I must remind you that you have 7 days from receipt of this letter to give me a satisfactory response.

Yours Sincerely,
(my name)

Please feel free to change anything, or give me advice on what to change and I would like to thank everyone in advance for any help they provide as this is really starting to pee me off.