THE director of emergency rescue group Rapid UK has slammed a mean-hearted thief who stole one of the charity's collecting boxes from an Okehampton shop last week.
Graham Payne, of Jacobstowe, said the box in Discount Motor Supplies was taken some time last Wednesday.
Mr Payne said: 'I think it's the lowest of the low. It probably wasn't a lot of money but the box was nearly full — things like this really niggle me.'
Mr Payne appealed to whoever had stolen the box to return it as Rapid is a charity which relies heavily on the generosity of its supporters.
He said the organisation has now been stood down after the recent earthquake in Iran.
'We had expected to go there, but we've spoken to the British embassy and they've said the death toll wasn't anything like as high as it was first thought,' said Mr Payne.
Mr Payne has just returned from a training exercise in the Forest of Dean, attended by a contingent from Rapid Spain, who brought along their rescue dogs.
The group was working with thermal imaging equipment, detectors and studying structural
collapse situations.
'It was only a short visit but we hope their training programme will really take off now,' said Mr Payne, who added that the group was set up after Spanish rescue workers joined Rapid UK in their search for survivors after the huge earthquake in Turkey three years ago.