Hartlepool store owner in shock over theft of completely-full charity box

A Hartlepool store owner was left in shock and despair when a box full of charity donations was stolen from his store last week.

According to local reports, Prabakar Paramanathan, who runs the Bungalow Convenience Store, in Stratford Road, Hartlepool, was the only person working at the shop when the incident took place around 5pm on Friday (14).

“He just popped into the shop. I was in the stock room, in the toilet, and he pinched the poppy box,” reports quoted the store-owner as saying.

Paramanathan has said he did not immediately realise what had happened when he returned moments after the theft. But his wife saw it all on CCTV in real time and rang him straight away.

The box had been there for over three months and was to be collected soon. He has also shared CCTV footage on social media in the hope the person who took the box will be identified.

“It was a full box. I was about to call them to collect it,” said Paramanathan, who has been running the shop for nearly two years.

Prabakar has added that there was an attempted robbery on the shop back in 2020.

Cleveland Police have confirmed they received a report at 5.12pm on January 14 of “a male taking a charity box from a shop in Stratford Road”.

The male was wearing a grey jumper and tracksuit bottoms and reportedly made off in a black Vauxhall Astra.

Police have asked anyone with information to contact them.