MASKED burglars stole stock, charity boxes and cash when they raided a village fish and chip shop in the New Forest.

Two men wearing masks broke into Poulner Fish and Chips on Butlers Lane, Ringwood, during the early hours of Saturday morning.

The two men were caught on CCTV breaking into the shop and stealing the shop's till, stock such as crates of drink, and charity boxes that were on the front counter for the air ambulance and a dementia charity.

Staff from the shop have said that it is believed the two men tried the back entrance before breaking in through the front entrance.

Veli Bulbul, one of the partners of the shop, said: "As you can see from the cctv recording, two faces fully covered, broke in to the premises stolen the till, some stock such as crates of coke and inhumanly they have stolen the charity boxes in front of the counter.

"We are not the only local business that has faced this type of crime.

"Unfortunately it is happening more often in our neighbourhood of Ringwood, so I advise everyone to be extra careful and help one another and your neighbours where possible.

"It’s a shame, that Such morons are around and doing this especially in this pandemic time where we are all taking extra caution with everything we do.

"Good news is that we have disinfectant the whole shop and have replaced the till, which means we will be back up and running this afternoon."

The shop reopened at 4.30pm on Saturday.

A spokesperson from Hampshire Police said that they were called to the fish and chip shop between 2.15am and 2.30am on May 30.

She added: "The suspects broke into the property and stole several items including a till drawer, two charity collection tins and some drinks from the fridge.

"The till drawer and the charity tins and some paperwork were later recovered from a car park in Gorley Road, Rockford.

"If anyone has any information about this crime, please get in touch by calling 101 and quoting reference 44200192618."