Heartless thieves who targeted three charity shops in one night have been condemned by the shop managers.

The shops in Hove all had their front doors smashed and one had its till stolen, causing almost £2,000 of damage.

Sussex Police are appealing for information about the break-ins, which were discovered early yesterday morning.

The first incident was spotted at the Martlets Hospice shop in Blatchington Road.

Hospice retail manager Eve Collins arrived at the shop about 8.30am after being called by police and found the front door broken and the till taken.

Glass was all over the floor and there was also a trail of blood.

The till was later found forced open and dumped in the grounds of the nearby Holy Trinity Church.

Ms Collins said: “It only had a small amount of loose change in it and nothing else in the shop was taken.

“However it will cost about £1,000 to fix both the door and replace the till.

“It makes me really angry. At the moment we are struggling to raise funds for the hospice and we can really do without something like this.

“This has never happened to us here before and it has upset everyone involved.”

The Mind and YMCA shops in nearby George Street were also broken into and it will cost hundreds of pounds to repair their doors.

Mind shop manager Dean Toon said: “It looks as if they only took some T-shirts but you have to wonder about the type of people who will stoop low enough to go for a charity shop.”

YMCA manager Michelle Salsbury said the raiders had been scared off so nothing was taken.

She said: “It hurts me that something like this could happen.

“We are a charity doing our best for the local community and this is what happens. I'm appalled that people can target shops like this.

“Any money made from these stores goes back into helping other people so why try to steal from them?”

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “These break-ins are particularly callous as those affected are often members of society that are most in need.

“These shops are being visited by scenes of crime officers and police officers will also be offering support to advise staff about crime prevention."

Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.