Thieves steal collection box money from Elm Park charity shop
The boarded up Cancer Research UK store in Elm Parade following the break-in. - Credit: Archant
Heartless thieves broke into and ransacked a Cancer Research UK shop before stealing a maximum of £40 in coins from collection boxes.
Staff at the Elm Park store, in Elm Parade, were shocked when they arrived to open up at 8.40am on Tuesday morning to find the window above the front entrance smashed.
Initially Barbora Butt, store manager, thought it was just damage to the window, but upon entering the building realised it had been burgled, and this was confirmed after viewing CCTV footage which showed two men in the building between 3-3.30am.
Police investigations meant the store could not be opened until 3pm that day, resulting in a loss of takings for the charity shop.
Barbora said: “They are low lifes. We are all really angry that they would do this for the sake of £20-40. They are petty thieves because there is more valuable things that did not get taken. We lost more in takings because the shop was kept closed.
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“We put so much work into it to make the place run for Cancer Research UK and then someone comes to take money.”
According to Barbara, the footage shows two men attempting to break in nine times from 2.30-3am before they finally entered through the small window.
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They then ransacked the store looking for money and keys to the till, which they eventually found, though no money was kept in the till.
After emptying the contents of the collection boxes into a bag, the men are shown leaving out of the same window and walking away.
“They didn’t care about the CCTV signs on the door,” added Barbora. “It was like they were doing their normal daily shop.”
Police officers are reviewing the CCTV footage.
