THIEVES have been targeting a disabled persons charity.

Managers at the Stanley branch of Scope, which helps sufferers of cerebral palsy, have asked the public for help after the third time the thieves struck.

The two criminals, a boy aged about 13 with blond hair and a stocky, dark-haired man, have been posing as charity workers to collect bags filled with jumble meant for the charity. They have picked up hundreds of bags from individual homes across Derwentside.

The pair have struck in three areas in the past two months at Delves Lane, near Consett, South Moor, near Stanley and, on Wednesday last week, on the Chester Road estate in East Stanley.

"We should have picked up 400 bags from Stanley in the last collection but only got 11 back," said manager Julie Clark. "People were telling us they'd already had their bags picked up. It is absolutely despicable and I don't know how they can do it. We really need all the contributions we can get.

"Our vans have Scope clearly printed on the side and our collectors all have proper identification."

Det Con Shaun Bailey, of Consett, confirmed police were investigating the thefts.