A CHILDREN'S charity has been been left devastated after its fishing equipment was stolen in a night time break-in.

Thieves broke into the cabin used by Bolton's Get Hooked on Fishing charity at Bradshaw Hall Fisheries and took off with vital equipment overnight on Wednesday.

The items - including rods, reels and shelter - had been donated and brought second-hand for the group which offers young people the chance to learn about and take part in angling.

Project manager Bridget Dawson said they had only recently acquired the cabin in Bradshaw and have never been a target for thieves before.

"It's devastating," she said.

"We don't have a lot of expensive equipment, the bits that have gone are not of massive monetary value, but we can't afford to replace it.

"They have damaged our cabin to by breaking in and we are going to find it difficult to find the money to spend on repairs.

"There is a knock on effect because the promises we made to the kids we now can't follow through with because we don't have the equipment anymore."

Bolton's branch of the national Get Hooked Fishing Charity has been running since April 2008.

The group has worked with hundreds of young people from schools, youth clubs, Inclusion Teams, faith groups and youth support groups from Bolton, Salford, Manchester and Lancashire over the years, as well as running open sessions during school holidays and one-on-one sessions.

Its cabin has acted as a storage room, class room and shelter for participants.

Equipment taken in the break-in includes two brown 12 foot-long carp fishing rods, two Shimano fishing reels, and a JRC Bivvy - a tent-style shelter used by anglers.

The loss of the equipment means the charity will have to limit the activities it has on offer and the number of young people it can help.

It hopes that anyone who is offered the items for sale will recognise them as the stolen goods and they can be returned to as soon as possible.

The police have been informed of the incident and investigations are continuing.