Volunteers have condemned thieves who caused more than £300 worth of damage during a break-in at a museum.

Burglars broke a fence and smashed through a double-glazed window during the raid at the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage, at 6.15pm on Monday. They stole a donations box containing about £50.

The box and a few copper coins were later found discarded. The box has been dusted for fingerprints by Thames Valley Police.

The Church Street museum is run by an independent trust and is a registered charity.

A museum spokesman said: "It is disappointing that this incident has occurred.

"The museum trust tries to provide not only an interesting museum and educational resource but also a community meeting place for the people of Wantage.

"At a time when we are committed to reducing our grant applications we have a number of projects on which the money for repairs could have been better spent.

"The loss of the donations box is very upsetting as it contained cash given by members of the public to the charity running the museum."