Thieves are depriving famine victims of food and drink by stealing clothes left outside charity shops.

Oxfam has now issued an urgent appeal to customers to bring clothes to their shops when they are open - as thefts continue to grow. The charity has revealed it is increasingly suffering from thieves who have no qualms about stealing clothes, which are left outside shops overnight or on Sundays.

Wayne Rutter, manager of the Oxfam shop in Cowley Road, Oxford, said: "These thieves have no morals and I find it appalling. "If two sheepskin coats and a black bag full of clothes are left here on a Saturday night, there is absolutely no way they will be here on a Monday morning.

"If you steal these clothes, you are literally pinching food and water out of someone's mouth."

He added: "We have even found people urinating on them in our doorway."

The shop has even tried putting laminated notices on the door urging customers to deliver donations when they are open - but even these have been ripped down. Staff have now been given keys for the shop and are encouraged to take clothes inside if they spot a bundle on the doorstep when it is closed.

Mr Rutter said some of the world's poorest people are suffering as a result.

He added: "These thieves have no morals. The money raised by selling donations people give us help all sorts of people in the poorest regions."

Louise Hayward, manager of the Oxfam shop in London Road, Headington, Oxford, said: "We get the same things here.

"It is not fair to the people who donate the clothes. They don't expect their things to be stolen." She added that there were also posters inside her shop urging customers to try, whenever possible, to deliver clothes when it is open.

Story date: Monday 25 October

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