Thieves target charity boxes
century Old Low Light building, whose original function was to guide ships into the Tyne, was refurbished in 2015 and opened as a visitor centre, with cafe, views over the river and venue hire space.
It also houses a gallery which aims to display the town’s rich history.
The break-in was discovered at just after 8am on Friday, when a member of staff arrived at work to discover one of the shutters was up, and the front door had been smashed.
CCTV footage shows just how long the thieves spent trying to get inside.
“We made sure the building was safe to come into and there was nobody inside, then we checked the CCTV,” Guy explained.
“They spent about 10 minutes trying to hot wire the security shutters, which they managed to get up about 50%. Then they spent another hour or so trying to get in.
“You can see from the CCTV that they are not impressed. At the front door we had two a big charity donation boxes, one about a metre high.
“I assume they have been in at some point and seen these two charity boxes.
“They spent about half an hour trying to force the locks, and in that time people that work on the Quay started to turn-up for work.
“I think what happened is they started to panic a bit as they hadn’t got in.
“They disappeared for four minutes, then they came back with a brick and smashed the glass.
“They were only in the building for nine seconds. They knew exactly where they were going. They grabbed the charity box and the tin.”
Staff at the centre are furious that the thieves got away with hundreds of pounds donated to help keep them going.
But the damage has also caused problems for centre users.
“They probably got a couple of hundred pounds from the charity boxes, but really the damage is the main issue,” said Guy.
“We can’t get just anybody, we have got to get someone who can work on a listed building.”
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: “At around 9.35am on Friday police received a report of a burglary at the Old Low Light in North Shields, where a number of charity donation boxes were taken.
“Enquiries are ongoing – officers are asking anyone with information to get in touch.”