Footage of a brazen thief stealing charity pots and money from a till at a farm shop has been caught on CCTV.

John Harris, who runs Broadditch Farm Shop in Southfleet, says he is “gutted” after the break-in during the evening on Tuesday, April 22.

He explained: “He was inside for about 45 minutes – I’ve got a hell of a lot of footage of him.

“At the end of the shop we’ve got little skylight windows that are permanently fixed shut but he pried them open with a crowbar.

“He managed to crawl through and he went through the whole shop.

“He wasn’t particularly bright. He didn't have a balaclava on but he was wearing gloves.”

Footage shows the man, who looks to be in his mid-to-late 20s, making his way through the shop, using a torch to look around.

He was captured on camera at around 10.40pm going through the till and taking an ellenor hospice charity pot – putting coins into a white plastic bag he took from underneath the till as he went.

John added: “He emptied all the pennies from the till, took the charity boxes, then went upstairs and decided to break into the office through the security doors.

“We had a lot of float change in there which he also took as well as our night safe.

“By the time we get the repairs done, it's going to come to a few thousand pounds.

“But the worst thing was the hospice boxes, what a low life – that’s what has hit everyone, the fact he took those.”

John says the shop is going to be putting a new alarm system in to prevent similar happening again.

“We've been running 35 years and it's the first occasion we've had like this,” he added.

“It's had a huge impact everyone – on the staff and customers.

“Like a lot of small businesses, we’re just trying to just make a living and it just feels gutting to know that someone has come in and done this.

“It just makes you feel really, really sad.

“I appreciate we're not going to get the money back, but it's just the hassle and the inconvenience, it’s an intrusion.

“We're a family farm run by my brother and I, we're sixth generation. It just feels a bit numbing, to be honest.”

The incident was reported to police who attended the shop within an hour.

Forensics took blood samples found near where it is thought the thief broke in and John has been told it could take up to eight weeks to get the results back.

Since posting about the ordeal on social media, John says they have received a huge outpour of support from people.

He added: “What was really nice is that last week we had quite a few people coming in, some existing customers and some new people, and they're donating money to the hospice.

“There's a lot of good people out there – there aren't so many bad ones, luckily.”

Police attended and initial enquiries were carried out.

Anyone who has relevant information should contact them on 01474 366149 quoting 46/69643/25.