Three men who took advantage of people’s generosity by stealing charity bags full of donated clothes have been arrested by police.

The callous thieves were caught snatching bags from outside homes in Kelsall after residents left them outside to be collected by The Salvation Army.

The men were then seen driving off in a van, where police later caught them and seized a ‘van full’  of stolen property.

Officers say the thefts have been an ‘ongoing problem’ in Kelsall for a while and urged people to report any similar instances.

PC Adam Norton told The Chronicle: “We received a call in relation to an ongoing issue where residents left out clothes to be collected by The Salvation Army on Church Street in Kelsall and a group of males have been going around collecting the bags and driving off.

“When we found the van we were able to recover the bags and the three men were subsequently arrested.

“It is crucial that if any members of the community sport any suspicious activity like this to report it as this is usually a pre-cursor to crimes like burglary.”

PC Norton added: “It is a difficult one because it’s not automatically suspicious to see a van collecting bags left out for charity.

“We do not want to discourage  people from giving to charity but would ask for them to just be aware  of the date and time that the charity have said they will come to collect the bags, and ensure they are only left out at that time.”