BURGLARS who could not find the huge haul they had hoped for after breaking into a bookmakers made off with a children's charity collection box instead.

The raiders struck at Ladbrokes, Pall Mall, Chorley but when they discovered they could not get hold of any of the bookies' takings after smashing their way through the front door, they stole £155 which had been donated to the NSPCC box.

The money had been given by Chorley punters who paid £1 each to a Name the Teddy competition.

Chorley police described the act as "despicable".

As the NSPCC celebrated its National Children's Day yesterday a spokeswoman from the charity described the raid as "very sad".

She said: "We are very sorry to hear about this. Ladbrokes are wonderful support to us and help us in the important work we do.

"To steal from any charity is pretty much as low as you can go.

"It is very sad that their contribution to National Children's Day is to steal money."

A spokesman from Ladbrokes said: "We are very concerned that this happened."

Over the Bank Holiday weekend two other Pall Mall businesses were vandalised by what police think were potential burglars. Partyzone and the Salvation Army Charity Shop had panes of glass broken on Saturday night.

DS Mick Dagger, of Chorley CID, said: "The stealing of a charity donation box is a despicable act. We are investigating the break-in and those that occurred on what was a busy weekend for the police."