"HOW low can you get?": Charity donation pots have been stolen from a West Bay kiosk.

Police are investigating a series of break-ins at the kiosks over the bank holiday weekend.

There were two break-ins and one attempted break-in during the early hours of Sunday, August 29, followed by further incidents between the night of Monday, August 30 and the morning of Tuesday, August 31.

One of the kiosks to be targeted on the second occasion was Anchors Aweigh. The kiosk's shutters were torn off as the intruders entered through the front.

Having been broken into before, the team at Anchors Aweigh make sure not to to leave valuables in the kiosk overnight, but said they were upset to find that the charity donation pots - put out to raise money for the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance and a charity supporting children with cancer - had been stolen.

Michael Ackerman, manager at Anchors Aweigh, said:"I've been down here seven years and this has happened on two occasions so we make sure not to leave any valuables in the kiosk overnight.

"But as for stealing from charity pots, how low can you get?

"It's one thing to steal from the till but taking money away from children with cancer or the air ambulance is a different story.

"It's seriously crossing a line. These charities are funded by the public, they do an amazing job and people rely on them. I may have to dip into my own pocket to cover what was in the pots."

Enquiries are currently ongoing to establish how many premises have been targeted and what has been taken from them.

Anchors Aweigh remained closed until Tuesday afternoon as forensics work was carried out.

Mr Ackerman added: "Not only did they take the pots and cause damage to the hut, it affected our trade the following morning as we weren't able to open.

"We had several people come by who wanted breakfast and we had to tell them to go elsewhere as the police were carrying out their investigation.

"They're on camera, we have CCTV footage of them so hopefully they'll be caught."

Police are making enquiries into these incidents and no arrests have been made at this time.