POLICE are hunting a burglar who broke into an Eastleigh newsagents and took a charity box.

Manager Jon Dudley could not believe it when he answered an emergency call-out to his shop and discovered that the only thing missing was money he was raising to help victims of cystic fibrosis.

Officers are studying CCTV footage that shows the masked raider march straight to the counter for the clearly-marked charity collection box after breaking into Boyatt News in Shakespeare Road. They have also taken forensic evidence from the scene.

Mr Dudley was collecting the cash as part of a charity drive which earlier this month saw him take part in a gruelling 40-mile walking, canoeing and cycling challenge in Yorkshire.

He raised about £650 in sponsorship, but put the collection box on the counter to help boost funds.

The exact amount of cash in the collection isn’t known because Mr Dudley was raising more money by holding a competition to guess the box’s contents.

Generous shoppers had been donating for two months, and Mr Dudley thinks that there was at least £200 inside the box.

The 49-year-old said: “It makes me so mad. I just felt so upset when I saw that’s what had been taken.

“I’m just so astonished that somebody could make a point of breaking in just to take something that’s clearly for charity.

“That’s what gets me, that this is money that people have given for charity. I just suppose these people just don’t have any scruples.

“I hope somebody out there knows who did this and will tell the police.”

Officers want to hear from anyone who was near Boyatt Wood shopping centre between 2am and 2.30am on Tuesday, August 25, and saw a man acting suspiciously.