THIS is the moment a brazen thief walked off with a scooter being sold by a charity supporting poorly youngsters.

The brightly coloured toy had only been outside the Colchester Children’s Charity shop in Old Heath Road, Colchester, for a matter of hours before it was nabbed by passerby.

After entering the shop and perusing some items, she then left and walked off with the scooter.

The charity raises thousands of pounds each year to help ill and disabled children who live in north Essex.

A major source of income comes from selling off items which have been donated by kind supporters.

Trustee and treasurer Roy Kemp said he was sickened by what had happened.

He said: “It was last Thursday morning I went to a house in Tiptree and picked up some donations which included this micro scooter which was in really good condition.

“I put it outside the shop on the forecourt. It was the same afternoon the shop manager said it had been stolen.

“Everything was caught on camera.

“She was in the shop, went out through the side door and back round the front.

“There she looked to see what the staff were doing and then walked off with the scooter.”

He said the woman made no attempt to go back into the shop to pay.

Two years ago, the charity released CCTV footage of a woman brazenly wandering off with a jacket from the store which would have fetched them £25.

But it was eventually returned with a sheepish note after it was shared by the Gazette.

Mr Kemp is hoping the scooter will also be returned but said shoplifting was fairly common.

He said: “We get a lot of stuff pinched from outside. People will leave donations for us on the doorstep but others will go through and take what they want.

“But this is just despicable. It is stealing from a charity.”

Mr Kemp said it was impossible for the shop to house the number of items they have without some of them being on show outside.

He added: “There isn’t the space inside for all of it once you have people in there.

“Also having some things outside helps to attract people

“We were going to ask for £15 for the scooter. It was probably worth a lot more than that. But it was collected in the morning and stolen in the afternoon.”