Thousands of pounds of damage was left in the wake of a burglary at a town centre pub.

An estimated £6,000 damage was done and £1,000 of stock taken following the break-in at the Ivy Leaf bar.

The raiders even took charity boxes believed to contain hundreds of pounds as well as smashing up fruit machines, ripping a cigarette machine off the wall, wrecking the pool table, and damaging doors and windows.

The Ivy Leaf, which is off High Street, Sheerness, holds numerous charity events and is a popular venue for youngsters who enjoy live music, as the bar often puts on band nights.

This year they were planning to put on a festive party for Island children, but the money they had collected was stolen in the break-in, forcing them to cancel the party.

All the bar’s charity boxes were stolen, containing hundreds of pounds worth of donations which would have been going to good causes including Kent Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Care.

The raiders also took £1,000 of stock which owners Colin and Dawn Barrett had just got in for the busy weeks ahead.

The wreckage was discovered by cleaner Gale Savill who said: “I was terrified when I got there for work because I didn’t know if they were still inside.

“The place was trashed, it was a complete mess.

“We are absolutely devastated they took everything – there’s nothing left.”

There were CCTV cameras in operation, and the footage is being investigated.

The vandals had also tampered with the alarm system, and Mr Barrett thinks it was a well thought out plan.

The bar opened up again for business on Tuesday and it will be business as usual for Christmas.

Anyone with information, should call police on 01795 419182 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 quoting reference CY/021632/08.

For full story see this week's Times Guardian