Charity shops are having to pay thousands of pounds to stop vandals

ransacking rubbish bins and stealing donated items.

The cash is going on security windows and gates to stop damage and theft being caused to the premises in Shipley.

Veterinary charity the PDSA and neighbouring British Heart Foundation are sharing the cost of the security to try and stop a problem they say has been going on for a long time.

The PDSA has also urged supporters not to leave bags of donated goods at the rear of their shop in Market Square because people were rummaging through them and scattering items across the yard.

Shop manager, Diane Gargan, spent yesterday morning clearing rubbish and excrement at the back of the store.

She said: "This is a regular occurrence and means the shop team have to spend time tidying the mess rather than sorting stock for the shop floor.

"Shipley PDSA shop is here to raise funds for pets in need of vets - it is disgusting that we are being targeted in this way."

She asked for donations to be brought directly into the shop during opening hours and said arrangements could be made to collect goods from supporters' homes.

Carolyn Davison manager of the British Heart Foundation shop said: "The problem has been going on for a long time.

"We have put signs asking people not to go through our bags at night but it hasn't stopped them."

The two charity shops are sharing the costs of the gates to the communal back yard. Mrs Gargan said the cost wast "several thousand pounds".

The PDSA shop raises funds to provide free veterinary treatment for the sick and injured pets of those unable to afford private veterinary fees across Bradford. It has a dedicated hospital in East Bowling, Bradford.

Mrs Gargan said they had been asked by Bradford Council to put the gates up to prevent people fly-tipping in the area, and had had to apply for planning permission.

She said: "This money is going to come out of our profits and it is money that could have been used to buy an operating table or pay for veterinary fees."

It is not just the two neighbouring charity shops being affected. A Cancer Research UK shop on the opposite side of Market Square has also suffered.

Deputy manager Jadi Gurbis said: "People sleep in the bins outside and leave excrement in them.

"And we have had so many break-ins that we have had to put bars on the windows."