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Brazen thief caught hauling stolen Guide Dog charity box across train station

The callous crook was captured on CCTV shamelessly picking up the large collection box at Bicester North station and hauling it across the platform.

Caught in the act: The mystery thief hauls his stolen goods across the platform (SWNS)

This is the shocking moment a brazen thief strolls across a train station platform - carrying a stolen 3ft-longdog shaped charity box.

The callous crook was captured on CCTV shamelessly picking up the large collection box at Bicester North station and hauling it across the platform.

The charity box had been set up to help raise money for Guide Dogs for the blind, but was stolen in a copycat crime which also saw three containers disappear in just four days last month.

British Transport Police released the CCTV of the 'heinous' thief in a bid to help identify him.

He is thought to have made off with the charity box between November 9 and 13, at around 4am.

In a four-day spell last month, two other boxes were also recovered, having been completely emptied.

A third box went missing from Banbury Station, just 11 miles away, between November 9 and 13.

Investigating officer PC Gary Archer said: "Around 3.50am on Friday, 9 November, a man entered Bicester North station removed two collection boxes.

"Officers later discovered two of the discarded boxes, which had been emptied.

"These callous thefts are simply unacceptable. When the victim is a charity, it makes the thefts particularly heinous.

"It is imperative that we trace whoever is responsible and I’d urge anyone with any information about these despicable crimes to come forward and assist officers in this investigation.”

Staff at the charity slammed the thefts as 'heartless'.

Spokesperson Graham Kensett said: "This was a particularly heartless crime as the money that was stolen was given to Guide Dogs to help blind and partially sighted people.

"We rely on donations to fund our work, which transform the lives of thousands of people who are living with sight loss."