A couple were left 'dumbfounded' after money was stolen from a charity donation box at a community book stall in Westhoughton on Sunday.

Keith and Hilary Barlow set up the stall outside their home six weeks ago, offering a free selection of books for anyone to take and tasking for voluntary donations to charity.

They are currently raising money for Bolton Hospice and the stall previously raised £260 for the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The couple regularly empty the box throughout the day, however they were shocked to discover that the money was missing on Sunday afternoon, despite neighbours recently making donations.

Fortunately thanks to the generosity of friends and neighbours they more than made up for the stolen money.

Mrs Barlow said: "We were just dumbfounded that somebody would steal out of a charity box.

"Obviously there is always a risk that this will happen but we keep a close eye on it.

"It's a case of one bad apple, but there are so many people out there who restore your faith in humanity.

"We're absolutely speechless of the response we've had from people. Everyone is annoyed that it has happened and they've wanted to do something to make up for it.

"We've had no other problems, everyone is extremely respectful towards the books and we hope this is a one off.

"Unfortunately a neighbour does have CCTV but it didn't catch anything concrete and we don't know how much was stolen so we can't take it to the police.

"It wasn't very nice but we've drawn a line under it and in fact we've made even more donations."

Since the incident several kind-hearted people have come forward offering to replace the donations.

Mrs Barlow said: "After we'd posted about the news, one man rang up and offered to pay the money straight away, another lady who had just made a donation said she would pay it again.

"Most people do give a few coins but some people are very generous and donate notes, the response has been fantastic."

The couple hope to continue running the stall in the summer. They initially set it up as people came to collect meals from Mr Barlow's catering business which he runs from home.

Mrs Barlow said: "We had all these books lying around the house so we thought why not give them away.

"Then a friend suggested setting up the donation box and we went from there.

"It's a really nice thing to have in the community and we have people from all different age groups stopping by. One lady told us its the only thing keeping her going."