A thief has stolen the contents -- believed to be about £100 -- of a giant collection bottle at a cancer-care hospice.

The thief unscrewed a security chain from the carboy, which sits in the reception area at the Manorlands Sue Ryder Care Centre, before emptying the container.

Shocked bosses at the Oxenhope hospice -- which relies heavily for its survival on donations from the public -- have described the incident as "despicable".

Administrator Chris Wilcock said: "It seems that someone possibly visiting the home at the weekend has seen the carboy in the entrance and has then come back with a screwdriver at a quiet moment intent on stealing the money.

"I am absolutely disgusted that anyone could stoop so low.

"Manorlands depends on people's goodwill and there are lots of marvellous dedicated people working away to help raise the £750,000 we have to find ourselves each year to keep the home going. A despicable act like this is just beyond comprehension.

"The bottle -- which is decorated by patients from our day care centre -- is a good fundraiser for us and usually makes a couple of thousand pounds a year.

"It is normally emptied regularly and ironically I had noticed last week it was getting quite full and I was going to empty it after the weekend.

"By its nature the bottle has to be quite visible, but we need to be able to empty it without smashing the glass so there's only so much we can do to secure it.

"Someone has unscrewed a jubilee clip from it before emptying the contents."

It is the second time in weeks that fundraising efforts for the 18-bed hospice, which also has a day care centre catering for up to ten patients daily, have been hit by thieves.

Earlier this month an armed robber escaped with a collection box and handbag from the Sue Ryder shop, in Haworth.

Anyone with information about the latest theft can contact Manorlands on 01535 642308 or Keighley Police on 01535 604261.