THIEVES stole charity boxes from a North Yorkshire chip shop after breaking in by taking slates off the building's roof.

The theft happened at Lonsdales, in Brook Street, Selby, overnight between March 2 and 3, with the four tins - which were being used to collect money for Macmillan Cancer Support, York-based St Leonard's Hospice and a hedgehog charity - being taken from the counter.

Police said the tins contained about £70, with the burglars also taking the shop's mobile phone. David Pickering, who owns Lonsdales, said the shop had been "ransacked" and the thieves had removed roof slates before dropping through a loft hatch.

He said: "The staff and customers are very sad about the fact that money donated by regular customers, for the benefit of cancer and hospice charities, has been stolen."

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said nobody has yet been arrested over the crime, saying: "We want to hear from anybody with information about where the money is, or the whereabouts of the charity tins if they have been discarded."

Anybody with information should phone the force on 101.