THIEVES have stolen a Bolton Mountain Rescue Team collection box from a Radcliffe shop.

The box was taken from The Barber Shop, in Deansgate, Radcliffe, last week.

The shop’s owner, Gary Melia, is a member of the rescue team’s support group and helps with fundraising, cleaning vehicles and other voluntary tasks.

Mr Melia, aged 41, said: “I noticed it missing on Friday when I went to put some money in it. The fact that someone has stolen from charity is awful. It’s not nice.

“People think because there are no mountains around here, the team isn’t needed, but there are always people falling over on Rivington or coming off mountain bikes.

“They help to recover bodies too. They do a good job and they need support.”

The box was almost full and is thought to have contained between £30 and £40.

Mr Melia is now trawling through CCTV footage to determine when the collection box was stolen and identify who could have taken it.

A collection box had been in the shop since 2010 and there had been no previous incidents.

sThe theft follows a collection box containing around £200 being stolen from Vaughn’s Country Cafe, in Tockholes, near Darwen.

Team leader Garry Rhodes said: “We rely heavily on public donations to meet our annual running costs of around £30,000, so these thefts are disappointing news.”