CRUEL crooks have been branded “heartless” after stealing a van used to raise vital funding for a children’s charity.

An essential vehicle belonging to East Anglia Children’s Hospices was stolen from behind the organisation’s Clacton shop in North Road at about 10.30pm on Monday.

The white Ford box van, which has a tail-lift and the registration number FY63 OUM, is heavily decorated with the charity’s name and logo.

It is used on a daily basis to collect and deliver furniture and ferry stock to the charity’s stores, including those in Colchester, Dovercourt and Halstead.

Any money generated from the sales of the furniture, estimated to be £60,000 a year, is used to support young people with life-threatening conditions and their families.

Phil Gormley, chief executive of EACH, said: “We were shocked and saddened when we discovered the van had been stolen.

“Those responsible are, quite simply, heartless. It seems incomprehensible anyone could stoop so low, given what the van is used for.

“It’s a vital part of our daily operation and it’s depressing to think anyone could be so thoughtless, doing something that directly affects a charity such as our own.

“We feel a sense of burning injustice and, aside from the obvious loss of income, it’s caused an awful lot of distress and disruption this week.”

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting crime reference number 42/1733317/22.