A THIEF smashed the window of a shop before walking away with six charity boxes early this morning.

The criminal chose not to steal any other items from the Village DIY store in Little Lever after using a stone to smash through the window at about 3.20am this morning.

Bosses at the shop in Church Street said one of the charity boxes had £100 in it.

Police forensic teams have been to the scene and have located a footprint in the store which is being investigated.

Owner Ismail Bargit, aged 53, also runs security firm Atom Security from the site and is currently downloading CCTV footage of the thief which he will release.

He said: "There are no words to describe someone like this, to steal charity boxes is just terrible.

"It is strange that we have thousands of pounds worth of stock in here but he was only interested in the charity boxes.

"We actually noticed a piece of stone around the back of the shop a few days ago and it looks like this man has used that to smash through the front window.

"The footage then shows him come straight to the counter, open his bag and put the six boxes inside before leaving."

Mr Bargit, who has seen the CCTV footage, described the offender as wearing a dark tracksuit hooded top and tracksuit bottoms with three stripes, he was of medium build.

The Village DIY shop is open as normal today and the window has been replaced.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the police by calling 101.