PARISHIONERS at a church in Lyme Regis have thanked police for their prompt action after money was stolen from a charity donation box located on the church porch.

Dorset Police said that a charity box kept at St Michael’s Church in Lyme Regis had its padlock forced and removed at the end of September.

The offender then replaced the padlock with another, before returning and removing money from inside.

CCTV enquiries show a man tampering with the charity box on Sunday, September 27, at around 11:45am, police added. Enquiries are ongoing.

Brian McConkey, St Michaels Church parishioner, thanked the police for their prompt action following the incident.

He added: “Police were very quick to respond and PC Richard Winward came round straight away to replace the lock once again with our own one.

“We only discovered what had happened when we went to empty the donation box and saw the lock had been replaced. 

“We then opened it and money had been taken from inside it, although we are not too sure exactly how much was taken.

“We have got CCTV so we checked that and handed the relevant footage over to the police. 

“We were quite shocked at this as it’s not something that happens often.

Anyone with any information regarding the incident should call Dorset Police on 101.