Burglars steal £400 from South Shields charity shop

On Thursday morning, police were informed the YMCA shop on Ocean Road had been raided.

It is believed the shop was broken into between 5pm on Wednesday and 8.50am on Thursday, when a safe which contained £400 was stolen.

An investigation is under way and police are now keen to hear from anybody who saw anything suspicious between those times to get in touch.

PC Chris Howey, of Northumbria Police, said: "For individuals to steal money from a charity that looks after some of the most vulnerable people in our society is utterly deplorable.

"Charities like this rely on plenty of good-will from supporters and donations from the community, so this incident has caused inevitable distress and anguish.

"Enquiries are ongoing to locate those responsible and I would urge anybody who thinks they have any information regarding this burglary to get in touch with police.

"You may think it’s a small and irrelevant piece of information, but it could prove the key to bringing those responsible to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 213 240119 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.