WINDOWS of three Christchurch charity shops have been shattered following a string of burglaries.

The police received a report at 3.53am on Friday morning, November 24, of a break-in at the PDSA charity shop in Christchurch High Street.

Officers attended and found two other shops, Prama and the British Heart Foundation, had also been broken into.

Retail manager at Prama Aaron Head said when he arrived at work at 7am, he was 'appalled' to find that the window had been smashed with a brick and the till had been stolen.

He said: "We were extremely upset not just about the theft and damage to the store but also that the staff had put in a lot of hard work setting up the shop to be ready for the Christmas light switch-on event the next day."

Isobel Cripps, the shop manager at PDSA, said: "I am very angry, we lost the preparation for the Christmas light switch on.

"I want him to pay, not only for the damage but for the loss of earnings to my charity and the others."

Isobel gave thanks to her customers and the community. 

She said: "The people of Christchurch have been so supportive, I couldn't have asked them to be more kind."

A local resident said: "I think it's a pretty disgusting thing to break into a charity shop at any time of year, but especially over Christmas, it is just terrible."

The break-ins at Christchurch were amongst several that have taken place locally over the last couple of months.

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care's shop in Winton was broken into on November 11, with items of stock and cash taken from the shop.

The director of retail, Susan Newcombe, said: "It has been very upsetting for both volunteers and staff at our Winton shop. We don't understand why someone would want to steal from a local charity."

She added: "We now need to raise money to pay for repairs to our shop and are appealing to the local community to help us."

A Bournemouth man in his late thirties was arrested on suspicion of burglary.

He has been released under investigation as enquiries continue.