A VEHICLE rental company has set up a fundraising page after Poppy Appeal collection boxes were stolen.

Abbey Vehicle Rental found out that masked men raided Silverlake Stadium, home to Eastleigh FC, at around 3am on November 5, and decided to help the Royal British Legion to get their money back.

CCTV footage shows three men breaking the front door of the shop area and searching for items to steal.

This is the second time in 12 days that the stadium has been broken into.

The raiders use a wheelie bin to carry goods out of the shop including two Poppy Appeal collection boxes.

The rental company, who are sponsors of Eastleigh FC, had originally called them to offer a free mini bus for their next trip to celebrate becoming Abbey Vehicle Rental's 10,000th booking, as part of a promotion they had in place.

Director of Abbey Vehicle Rental, Mark Pearce, who set up the JustGiving page, said it "should have been a day of celebration".

He said: "Unfortunately, there was a break-in and the poppy collections were stolen, but this day should have been a celebration.

"We've put the promotion on hold and instead, have set up a donation page. The promotion has been overshadowed by the robbery. A lot of our customers and supporters of the club have donated £50, and we have put in £50 ourselves. I thought it would be a nice thing to get the money replaced, and the £300 we have almost raised is probably more than what was stolen, but you never know."

To donate, visit https://justgiving.com/fundraising/avr-efc.