A BRAZEN thief was caught on camera when he allegedly stole a charity bucket from a Southampton pub while staff were upstairs.

In a daring raid staff at the Hobbit pub claimed he climbed over the fence at the back of the Bevois Valley pub and walked through the back garden before searching the premises for cash.

He was caught on CCTV at about 2.50pm looking around to see if anyone was around before he went to check the till for cash.

After finding it empty he took the charity bucket, which was in aid of Cancer Research UK.

The landlady, who doesn’t want to be named, said the bucket was later found empty in the pub toilets but she thinks it only had about £30 in it.

She said the CCTV shows he was in and out of pub in about six minutes adding it was “unpleasant” knowing that he had stealthily crept in while she was upstairs before the pub opened.

She said: “What’s foxed me is the fact that the pub is completely locked up and shut from the front. The garden is completely enclosed. He’s climbed over the fence gone all the way round through the pub garden, through the back door.”

Anyone with any information about the theft should contact Hampshire police on 101.