THE director of a Bournemouth sweet shop has renewed his pleas for people to help after the “sickening” theft of Poppy Appeal tins from his store.

It comes after police released two CCTV images of a man and a woman, pictured, they want to speak to in relation to a similar theft at the Co-op in Ashley Road, Poole, as reported in the Daily Echo yesterday.

As reported on Saturday, staff at Sweet Thoughts in Westover Road, Bournemouth, were left devastated when their tins was swiped.

The store’s CCTV also captured two people, who appear to be the same pair that officers want to speak to over the Ashley Road theft.

Sweet Thoughts owner, Robin Stratton, said yesterday: “We thought right at the beginning that this was an organised affair.

“You can’t cut through cable at a till without some sort of instrument.

“The box in our shop had more than £80 in it because it’s there all year round. It’s sickening.”

Staff at Sweet Thoughts have felt the theft all the more keenly, manager John Keppie has told the Echo, as he lost a close friend and former colleague in Afghanistan three years ago.

Between Sunday, November 3, and the following Tuesday, tins were taken from Bournemouth’s Tourist Information Centre and Flirt Cafe Bar at the Triangle.

The Ashley Road Co-op theft happened at about 1.15pm on November 4.

Dorset Police said yesterday that they had received the images from Sweet Thoughts, but there was no further update.

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police in confidence on 101, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.