A CHARITY shop has been broken into for the second time in a matter of months, resulting in hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

St Helena Hospice’s shop in Dovercourt was broken into in the early hours of Sunday morning, the charity said.

Charity bosses believe a glass panel on the front door of the shop in Bagshaw Road could’ve been smashed with a rock, causing more damage and destruction to the shop just four months after it was broken into in January.

The charity says the team was able to open the doors the next day after cleaning up the mess that was made to the stock and securing the damage to the property before confirming nothing had been stolen.

This is now the third break in at a St Helena charity shop in less than six months, causing a loss of income to the charity which relies heavily on its shops to raise vital funds.

Tim Morgan, retail area manager at St Helena, said: “We just can’t believe it. To face yet another break in at our wonderful shop in Dovercourt so soon after it was previously targeted in January is just utterly heartbreaking for the team.

“This has caused even more heartache to our community to be targeted yet again, along with additional bills to pay for the damage and repairs to the shop – vital money which would have been spent on supporting our patients and their families.

“They were there to support us last time and will be with us again this time. Our community support is what keeps the smiles on our staff and volunteers faces.”

“If you work for or know of a local company who would be able to offer their services to assist with fixing the damage caused, we would really appreciate the help,” he added.

The charity thanked its hardworking staff and volunteers who are keeping the shop running as usual and has urged anyone who may have witnessed the break in to come forward.

Essex Police confirmed it is aware of the incident and urged anyone with information which could assist its inquiries to contact the force online or by calling 101 quoting reference 42/77586/24.