Thieves broke into a charity shop and ripped its safe off the wall to steal hundreds of pounds, writes Mattie Brignal.

The intruders are believed to have forced their way into the Forest Hill branch of Alex, the Leukodystrophy Charity, through a window that was locked from the inside.

They managed to dislodge the lock, then tore out the handle used to chain the safe to the wall.

The thieves then hauled the safe – weighing around 20kg, about the same as a five-year-old child – back out through the same window.

Matthew Conmee, the fundraising officer for Alex, said: “All of our staff and volunteers work extremely hard to raise as much money as possible so that we can provide the best possible support for people with a Leukodystrophy and their families and carers.

“To hear that someone would then wish to take any of this away from us is very distressing. We are just happy that none of our brilliant staff got hurt.

“It’s very unlikely to have been one person as they would have needed help carrying it out the window” Mr Conmee said.

“They might have used a crowbar to tear off the handle that the safe chain was wrapped round.”

Police were called to the shop in Forest Hill at 10.10am on Tuesday, November 5.

Officers found no forensic evidence at the scene but footprints were left on the windowsill.

A Met spokesman said: “It is believed entry was gained at some point between 6:.30pm on Monday, November 5 and 9.30am the following day.

“A search was carried out and a quantity of cash was found to have been stolen.

“No arrests have been made.”