A gift shop owner who had a charity box containing hundreds of pounds stolen just days before his London Marathon mission last weekend, managed to raise around double what was stolen following an article in the Bucks Free Press about the theft.

Footage from Daisy Gift Shop, in Straight Bit, Flackwell Heath, showed a woman stealing the charity box while her companion spoke to a shop assistant just a few feet away, in what is believed to have been a premeditated distraction burglary.

Owner Bruce Jacob, who lives in the village, was raising the money for the Children with Cancer charity.

The box was feared to have contained around £300.

Mr Jacob, who completed the 26.2 mile route in three hours and 45 minutes – shaving five minutes off his time from last year – said he managed to raise around £600 in donations following the Free Press article.

He said: “We have had anything from £1 donations from children to £100 from a local businessman so it’s been fab.

“We have had approximately £600 in donations since the theft so thank you.”

The 50-year-old added he chose the charity after a friend of his suffered from the condition last year, and is still recovering.

At the time of the theft, Mr Jacob, who has been running Daisy Gift Shop with his wife Linda for 19 years, criticised the police for not responding quickly enough or going to see them after the incident.

Speaking to the Free Press this week, he said the police had sent him a pack to send the CCTV footage in, but no-one had yet gone out to see him at the shop, branding it “frustrating”.

However, he did praise the Flackwell Heath community, adding that “very rarely” did anything “nasty” happen there.

Mr Jacob has also raised more than £4,000 online, smashing his £2,250 target.

To donate, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/brucejacob.