Shameless thief swipes Poppy Appeal cash

The shameless thief was captured on CCTV stealing the British Legion Poppy Appeal tin from a pub in Cleveleys.He can be seen casually unhooking the tin from the bar before shoving it down his trousers, then continuing to lean on the bar and chat, before leaving the The Dickens pub on Princess Road, Cleveleys, with a pal.Pub lanlord Brian Jenkinson, 52, said he was appalled at the theft, which happened at around 12.45pm on Friday.He said: “We get a lot of ex-servicemen in the pub and the Royal British Legion is just across the road. “That box in particular I know contained at least £60 because I put £40 in there myself, and all the staff have been putting in 50 per cent of their tips.“We’re looking at just short of £100.“The veterans need every penny they get nowadays because there’s no government funding for them any more. The more you do the better you feel, and I’m especially disappointed for the staff who offered their own wages.“They didn’t have to do it but they did.”The callous crime was discovered on CCTV footage by Mr Jenkinson on Saturday after a member of the public found the charity box, which had been emptied of cash, abandoned in an alleyway.The footage, which was posted on social media in a bid to identify the thief, was shared almost 10,000 times by outraged members of the public.He said: “I trawled through the CCTV and got him red-handed.“It’s nice to know that the local community is well behind the Poppy Appeal and interested in what’s happening at the pub.“We won’t get a penny back, I know we won’t, but we’ll see what we can to raise more funds and make up for the loss for the Legion.”Police are now investigating. They are looking to speak with Nathan Beddow, 20, in connection with the crime.A spokesman said: "We urge Nathan to get in touch and ask that people do not approach him and let police deal (with it)."Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting the log reference number 0839 of November.