BURGLARS forced their way into a tea room and stole two charity boxes, as well as staff tips.

The raiders targeted the Tea Rooms in Saltburn’s Valley Gardens at the weekend when they forced open a security window before grabbing the money from the shop's counter.

As well as the cash the burglars took away CCTV footage from the business.

Cafe owner Lorna Piper has been left sickened by the burglary.

She said: "My heart sank when I got the call. What has upset me most is the fact they have taken money meant for other people.

“We have signs everywhere to say cash is not kept on the site, I just don’t know what to make of it."

The cafe owner, who lives in Brotton, east Cleveland, has a charity day planned on August 16 and is continuing to take donations.

“This has knocked us a little bit but we will still do our best to raise as much as we can," she said.

“My staff work so hard and save up their tips for the year so they can enjoy them at Christmas.

"It’s sickening to think someone is capable of stealing from such a small business.

The raid took place sometime between 8pm on Saturday, April 25 and 7am the following morning when someone forced entry to the building, causing damage to an external shutter and a window.

The charity boxes were from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) and the local animal charity Saltburn Animal Rescue Association.

A spokesman from GNAAS said: "Raising the money we need to survive is hard enough without this kind of incident.

"It’s sickening because the money in those collection tins would have gone directly to support the work of our air ambulances. We just cannot understand why someone would stoop so low.”

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area or who has information which could help police is asked to contact PC Stewart Shepherd at Cleveland Police via the non-emergency number 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.