A HOSPICE was targeted by criminals as patients slept in their beds.

Thieves stripped lead from the roof of the East Lancs Hospice in the early hours of Saturday morning to sell on as scrap metal.

Staff at the Park Lee Road building branded the criminals ‘scum’ after they were forced to close one of the inpatient rooms because of the damage.

Charitable donations and money raised from events to care for dying patients has had to be diverted to pay for emergency repairs.

Duty nurses caught one man in the act after hearing noises on the roof in the early hours of Saturday morning.

After he fled the scene, further inspections revealed nine separate areas of damage.

Rebecca Beaton, 35, director of finance and support services, said: “Staff on duty heard noises coming from the roof.

“One of the nurses was in the back office of the nurses station when she saw a man through the window, trying to hide from view behind a pillar.

“She immediately called the police. There is an extreme amount of damage which will cost thousands of pounds to repair.”

When officers arrived they found some of the lead which the thief had dropped has he ran off.

But by the time he was discovered, he had managed to strip lead from the roof of the day therapy unit, the inpatient unit and from the area above the kitchen and back entrance.

The hospice, which has 70 staff and a regular stream of terminally ill day patients from across East Lancashire, had eight inpatients asleep at the time of the offence.

Mrs Beaton added: “We’ve have to close one of the rooms whilst emergency repairs are carried out.

“Then we’ll have a survey of the damage to see what the cost is, but the money we get in is all from donations and fundraising.

“They must have known we are a hospice. It is clear what type of building this is and they knew who they were stealing from.

“They are scum.”

A police spokesman said: “The people responsible for this callous crime should be ashamed of themselves.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 0845 1 25 35 45 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”