Callous thieves have targeted three charity shops that raise vital funds so that nurses can provide hospice care to children and adults with life-limiting illnesses.

Rennie Grove Hospice Care’s charity shops in Market Square, Princes Risborough, Plomer Green Avenue, Downley and in Pond Approach, Holmer Green were all broken into over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Holmer Green shop has now been targeted on three separate occasions during 2019.

The charity needs to raise £20,000 every day so they can continue to support patients with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses - and the break-ins have hit staff and volunteers "hard", Rennie Grove's CEO said.

Stewart Marks said: "Thefts like this affect our patients in three ways: the items stolen means that there is less money to go towards patient care.

"The costs incurred to repair the damage caused during the burglary along with increased insurance premiums is also money that cannot go into the budget to be spent on patient care.

"Each time we are broken into it costs the charity more money to fix the repairs than the value of what has been stolen.

“Break ins have a dreadful effect on our staff and volunteers, leaving them feeling upset and fearful for their safety.

"Our retail teams are all very loyal to the charity and they know how important the funds raised in their shops are to the nurses in terms of the care it enables them to provide to local patients.

“As a result of these continued break-ins we have beefed up security and tightened up arrangements around what is left in our shops overnight.

“We would urge local residents who see anyone acting suspiciously around any of our shops or who know anything about these particular break-ins to call the non-emergency police number 101 and report what they know.”

Rennie Grove has 28 shops that raised £3.3 million in 2018-19. The charity relies on the support and expertise of more than 1,500 regular and part-time volunteers.

Any time of the day or night, every day of the year, patients are able to call on the specialist nursing care and support provide by their nurses and healthcare assistants.