A COUPLE who had a Christmas charity box stolen from outside their home have branded the theft as “disgusting”.

Dick and June Forway decorate their house with festive lights every year to raise money for charity and have vowed that the theft will not deter them from their annual tradition.

The box, outside their home in Hill Rise, St Ives, was made by the town’s Rotary Club. It was attached to a post cemented in the ground – but that did not deter the thieves, who smashed it open and stole the money intended for pancreatic cancer patients.

“The first we knew about it was when someone who found the box came round holding it and a few bits of plastic,” Mr Forway said. “My first reaction was to ask why someone would want to steal money from a cancer fund. It is absolutely disgusting.”

Luckily, the Forways empty the box every day, so did not lose all the money from their collection, which includes about �400.

Mr Forway hopes the display will raise about �1,000 in total but money will no longer be collected in the charity box – instead people can post donations through the couple’s letterbox or donate via the website www.justgiving.com/ForwayFamily