VIDEO: Thief swipes Poppy Appeal tin from Layton shop on Remembrance Day

The tin containing around £50 was stolen from Morrisons Daily on Westcliffe Avenue at around 7.20pm on Sunday, just a few hours after many Fylde coast residents took part in a doorstep silence in memory of those killed during wartime.

Shop manager Tom Bowell said: "I think it's despicable, especially with what has happened this year, now it the time everyone should be pulling together and helping each other.

"The Poppy Appeal is very close to many people's hearts and to snatch money away from those who need it I think is disgusting. I don't know how they live with themselves."

Two members of staff were on duty at the shop at the time the crime occurred.

A man and a woman came in and the man asked the cashier about cigarettes while the woman allegedly stole around £50 worth of meat from the shop's fridges. Then, while the cashier was distracted, the man used a pair of scissors to cut the chain that attached the Poppy Appeal box to the counter.

Tom said: "One of the customers told the cashier what had happened, but by that time they had gone."

The crime was caught on the shop's CCTV camera. Both suspects are described as white and aged in their 20s. The man was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. The woman was wearing a bright pink jacket and had dark hair tied in a ponytail.

Anyone who recognises the people in the footage is asked to contact police on 101 quoting the crime reference PE01170006FGJKH.