2 July 2012 Last updated at 16:26 ET

Thief steals charity box from funeral parlour

The thief struck while the owner was out of the room

A teenager has been caught on CCTV stealing a charity collection box from a funeral director's in East Sussex.

The youth took a box containing about £40 for Help for Heroes from Payne & Sons in Eastbourne when co-owner Donna Payne went into a back room.

Mrs Payne's soldier son, Christopher, was helped by the charity when he lost a hand and a leg in Afghanistan.

She said an apology from the thief would not be enough.

He struck last Friday after telling Mrs Payne he wanted to arrange a funeral for his grandmother.

'We trust everybody'

While she collected an information pack in a different room, the teenager picked up the box and escaped.

Mrs Payne said: "We trust everybody here. A lot of the funerals we do, the families actually decide to give to Help for Heroes because that is what they want to do, to help the soldiers.

"And he has just come along and taken it without a care in the world."

She added: "Even if he apologised [and] came begging on his hands and knees, it isn't enough."

Sussex Police are appealing for information from anyone who has information about the theft.