Staff at a local charity shop are shocked at the amount of theft that is being carried out at their store.

Pauline Fosbery, the manager at the Sue Ryder charity shop in Broad Street, told the Ross Gazette that the staff have noticed a huge increase in the amount of stealing over the past six weeks. She said:?"It has become increasingly noticeable that people are targeting charities, which means that they are depriving the people who need the funds they raise.

They have found that the people who are stealing from them are of all ages, from teens to the elderly and that the items that they are stealing are not small items priced at just £1 or £2, they are often £15 or more.

Pauline said that donors bring very good stock to raise money, not to be taken by uncaring thieves. The charity relies on volunteers to work on the shop floors but they are often busy and then unscrupulous people take advantage of them.??So much hard work is put in to get stock out and the volunteers are disgusted that people do this.

They often hear people say; 'People don't steal from charities," but in fact they do. Pauline said:?"Perhaps if the thieves spared a thought for why we are raising money, and saw how we improve lives, they may think twice, or maybe not, it is a sad world we now live in."

She has also asked if anyone shopping in a charity shop, or indeed any shop, and sees this happening, to alert the staff or manager.

For more stories in full please see this week's Ross Gazette.