CCTV cameras installed after cash went missing from a charity caught a thief 21 minutes after they were turned on.

Stuart Thompson, a security guard at Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, Bury Old Road, Edenfield, was filmed stealing from a charity box.

Thompson, 32, of West Crescent, Accrington, was fined £100 and was ordered to pay back £10 he stole by a crown court judge.

Bosses at the sanctuary installed the cameras when they noticed money was going missing from collection tins.

They branded him ‘disgusting and disgraceful’ for stealing from the charity he was employed to protect.

It was not alleged that Thompson was responsible for the other thefts.

Thompson was convicted at Manchester Crown Court for stealing £10 from a collection tin on the reception desk.

After the case manager Neil Martin said they had installed the camera with the hope of catching anybody who tried to take money from the charity box.

He said: “We didn’t expect to be successful so quickly.

“For somebody to steal from a charity box is disgusting but he was a member of security staff who had a position of responsibility which is even more disgusting and disgraceful.”