A shocked mother-of-four has spoken of her disgust after spotting a man stealing clothes from a charity clothes bank in Burton.

The woman, who wishes to keep her identity private, was walking home with three of her children when she spotted a man standing by the collection point outside the mosque in Victoria Crescent.

She says she saw the man taking clothes out of the bank, holding them up to get a better look at them before stuffing some into his bag and putting others back.

She stood there and watched the man for a few minutes before getting her phone out to try to catch a video, knowing that the story sounded unbelievable.

A person has been spotted stealing from a clothing bank in Burton. File photo

The clothes that are donated to the bank go to the Star Foundation, a local charity set up to support schools and youth groups across Burton and South Derbyshire.

She said: "I was absolutely disgusted. He made it look like he was donating to the clothes bank but he was actually taking the stuff out.

"He's taking from people who really are in need.

"Other people have done down to donate clothes to that bank to help people, but he was stood there taking it out like it was a shopping trip!"

At first the woman was unsure of what to do but after showing the video to a friend, she decided to go to police who are now investigating the claims.

The box was outside the mosque in Victoria Crescent, Burton

She said: "I went back later and there were clothes left all over the road. He had obviously picked out which clothes he wanted and just thrown all of the rest.

"It was pretty obvious what he was doing, but he was on a bike. Surely if he was that desperate he could just sell his bike rather than steal from charity?"

Staffordshire Police have confirmed officers are investigating the incident and are appealing to the public for any more information.

A spokesman for the force said: "We were called to a report of items of clothing being stolen from a charity clothes container in Victoria Crescent, Burton.

"It is believed the theft took place on Wednesday afternoon, August 15, at around 4.30pm.

"An investigation is underway."

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact them by calling non-emergency number 101, quoting incident number 211 of August 17.
