THIEVES broke into a Worcestershire charity and stole £1,600 of equipment intended to help elderly people in times of flooding.

George Waugh, chief officer of Age UK Malvern, was horrified to discover someone had broken into an external store at the Grange Road headquarters and made off with about 70 cameras – to take pictures of flood damage – and the same number of wind-up radios and torches.

The items were part of emergency flood packs. They have been an important resource for people, with more than 50 handed out in Malvern, Upton-upon-Severn and Tenbury since the charity started keeping them last year.

Mr Waugh said: “My first thought when I saw it was simply to ask how low can people go?

“They had gone through every single one of the packs and clearly taken the items they thought might be valuable to sell. All the other items from the packs, such as whistles and thermal blankets, had just been discarded.

“I was just astounded. It is quite obvious what these packs are for and they have deprived us of our ability to give older people something that could potentially be very useful to them in the right circumstances.

“They must have come pre-armed with bolt cutters but I cannot for one minute imagine that they knew what they were going to find in there. I think they just saw the opportunity and took the chance of finding something of value.”

Police are investigating Anyone who may have seen the break-in or seen any items fitting the description being offered for sale can call 101, quoting 250S/060812 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.