Thief breaks into farm shop and steals "pennies" from charity box

CCTV footage shows a brazen thief stealing from the till and charity box at a family-run farm shop.

The owners of the Broadditch Farm Shop in Southfleet, Kent, say they're "gutted" after the break-in last week, which saw them lose around £2,000 in money and repairs.

Despite feeling "numb" since the theft last Tuesday (22/04), owner John Harris says what bothers him most is the man taking the Ellenor Hospice charity pot.

"He was inside for about 45 minutes," Mr Harris said. "I’ve got a hell of a lot of footage of him...

“At the end of the shop, we’ve got little skylight windows that are permanently fixed shut. [The thief] pried them open with a crowbar.

“He managed to crawl through and he went through the whole shop.

“He wasn’t particularly bright: he didn't have a balaclava on, but he was wearing gloves."

CCTV footage from the shop shows the man, who looks to be in his mid-to-late 20s, making his way through the premises, using a torch to look around.

As well as going through the till around 10:40pm, the thief also took the Ellenor Hospice charity pot, putting coins into a white plastic bag he took from underneath the till as he went.