A CHARITY supporting the siblings of seriously ill children has been left counting the cost after a thief snatched a charity box.

Mark Darling, who owns Pieseas Chippy, in West Street, Harwich, is hoping for information after a callous crook stole the box from the counter.

The charity box was raising funds for Harwich-based Sponsor a Sibling, which provides treats to the supportive siblings of seriously ill children.

Mr Darling and his wife, Kelly, are firm supporters of the charity, with Kelly set to take part in a fundraising walk next month.

Mr Darling was left shocked and disgusted when reviewing the footage.

He said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“We are friends with the people who run this charity and my wife is looking forward to taking part in a sponsored fire walk.

“There was a lot of cash in there.

“We had some really generous donations, people were putting £5 notes in.

“We hadn’t noticed it was missing at first, my wife thought I had taken it away for counting.

“I was shocked to see who had taken it, it makes you ask can you trust anyone anymore?”

“This man has denied a really worthy charity of money.

“His actions, whatever the motivation, are appalling.

“If he was suffering with dementia or down on his luck perhaps I would understand to some extent. But you can see him looking into the kitchen, planning it out and using scissors to cut the string.”

Laura Rolph-Wills launched Sponsor a Sibling in December last year, hoping to give the siblings of poorly children support.

The charity is fundraising to buy a caravan, which would be tailor-made for each sibling as a holiday retreat.

Mrs Rolph-Wills said: “I think more than a nything it is just sad.

“We are a small charity, a charity local to Harwich.

“Many people don’t even know about us.

“When you get people like Mark and Kelly who kindly offered to help, it is such a shame to see these kind of actions bring them down.”

Essex Police are appealing for information to find the thief.

They want to speak to the man in the CCTV footage in the hopes he can help them with their inquiries.

The box was stolen at around 7pm on September 27.

A spokesman said: “While a member of staff was in the back room, a man ran in, grabbed the collection box and ran out.”

To donate to the caravan appeal, visit: justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/sponsor-a-sibling/caravanappeal.