Heartless thieves fleece bank in Bishopbriggs

Police cottoned on that the Salvation Army collection facility, outside the Bishopbriggs branch of Asda, was broken into between Tuesday, October 30, and Friday, November 2.

It is not known how many clothes were taken in the raid on the bank – one of over 5,000 in the UK which raise funds for the charity’s work with the homeless and elderly.

A spokesperson from Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd, who operate the banks, said: “Individuals that vandalise our clothing banks and steal the contents have no regard for those we are raising money to help.

“Theft and vandalism threatens to damage the trust, goodwill and charitable spirit that has been built up over the years between the generous general public and organisations such as ourselves.”

The charity and Kirkintilloch Police have now asked people to keep an eye out for any repeat attacks, while there are hopes new technology could catch culprits in the future.

The spokesperson added: “Whilst we encourage people to continue using our banks as incidents like this are rare, we would ask the public to help deter this criminal behaviour by looking out for any suspicious activity and reporting it directly to the police.

“The security of donations is extremely important to us and, as well as the police, we are working with specialist security company SmartWater to help deter thefts and catch those responsible. SmartWater uses a solution to forensically tag thieves and also assists with targeted police-led covert operations to capture and convict offenders.”

If you know anything about the theft, call Kirkintilloch Police on 0141 532 4400.

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