THIEVES have stolen money collected for victims of the Asian tsunami disaster.

Organisers of the appeal called the raiders disgusting and appealed for help in catching them.

They broke into the Mill House Leisure Centre, in Hartlepool, and grabbed the money from a bucket.

A spokesman for Hartlepool Borough Council, which runs the Raby Road complex, said the haul was much less than it might have been because the bucket had been emptied hours earlier.

He said: "It is disgusting to think that thieves would do such a thing. But, fortunately, the collection is emptied daily and donations had been taken from the bucket.

"The thieves only managed to get away with what had been donated after it had been emptied, which probably amounted to nothing more than a few pounds."

Centre facilities manager Joan Wynn believes more than one person must have been responsible because a pane of glass that had been removed to get access to the office was 7ft off the ground.

Closed-circuit television footage of the area will be examined to help catch those responsible.

Millions of pounds has been raised nationally to help those affected by the earthquake and tidal wave that hit the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day.

An estimated 270,000 people, including 274 Britons, are thought to have died in the disaster.

Anyone with information about the raid, which took place between 10pm and midnight on Thursday, is asked to call police on (01642) 302126.