A thief who targeted a charity shop which funds East Cheshire Hospice has been slammed as ‘heartless’.

The lowlife struck the hospice’s Chestergate shop on March 3 taking a cash collection tin.

The tin was part of a display selling Humpties - little knitted ‘people’ designed to cover Easter eggs.

Eight of the chocolates have also been stolen from the display.

Staff and volunteers at the charity, which supports terminally ill patients and their families, are furious at the theft.

Gemma Remblance, retail manager for the hospice, said: “We are disgusted. How can you steal from a charity, let alone from a charity shop.

“It happened right under our noses. We don’t have CCTV cameras, we rely on the good nature and honesty of people and always have someone on the shop floor. You would have expected that to be enough. No one expected to be a target for heartless thieves.”

Volunteers have been busy knitting Humpties to decorate the 1,000 plus chocolate eggs donated to the hospice after it launched a social media appeal.

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The eggs are on sale for a suggested donation of £1.50 at the shops on Chestergate and Thornton Square, as well as in the reception of the hospice on Millbank Drive.

Betty Malkin, one of the team who knits the Humpties, said: “A lot of people spend their time and energy making these Humpties to try and raise money to make things better for people at the hospice.

“It’s a sad thing that people will just walk into a charity shop and help themselves, and not think about the harm they’re doing.”

The Chestergate shop has sold dozens of the Humpties with many supporters donating over £5.

It is estimated that the tin could have contained more than £100.

Gemma, 32, added: “Our shops are so important to the charity, which relies on donations to keep run. Of every £1 spent in the shops 90 pence goes straight to the charity, less running costs. And that money is spent helping the patients and their families. Whoever has taken this money has not taken from us, but from those terminally ill people we do our best to help in their last days.”

If anyone has any information they should call police on 101 quoting incident number 0716071680.