A charity fundraiser has spoken of her anger and heartache after a group of kids stole from her donations box in Dartford.

Deanne Kidd and her stepdaughter Shannon had set up a Halloween display at their home in Rochester Road and invited the public along to come and make donations.

The display included a skeleton by the front door called Billy Bones with a donations pot in order to collect cash from trick or treaters.

Deanne said: "I had been at the front door all night and just popped in to refill the candy bowl and i heard some noises outside.

"We went back out the door and caught them with their hands in the bowl. No idea how much they got away with.

"I felt totally fed up and like taking it all down."

The display also featured witch stirring a cauldron - who was made to move with the help of an old record player - and the front garden was a graveyard, with flashing zombies and a coffin.

People reacted on social media encouraging Ms Kidd to keep up her impressive decorations.

One commenter said: "That's terrible, but you have done really well it looks lovely."

Another said: "It looks so good I hope you still raise some money."

It was all in aid of Spinal Research for which step mother and daughter team are aiming to raise £3,600. And they're doing the London Marathon next year too.

They are continuing to fundraise through a Justgiving Page which can be found here.

Ms Kidd said she felt like dismantling all her effort on Halloween after she caught a group of kids trying to steal from the pot

She said: "It was our first fundraising event.

A group of kids were caught red handed by a fundraiser with their hands in her charity box in Dartford.

Deanne Kidd and her stepdaughter Shannon have been raising money for Spinal Research, and even plan to run the London Marathon next year.

Ms Kidd had spent a week planning and three days setting up a charity Halloween display complete with donation box.

She said: "The charity display, was organised by myself and Shannon. We had been collecting Halloween decorations since they appeared in the shops, but bought most this week once they were reduced in price to keep our outlay down as much as possible.

"The witch stirring the cauldron we animated ourselves, the witch was shop bought but we used my husbands old record player to create the stirring effect. All in all it took 2 to 3 days to set up although planning took a lot longer."

The front garden in Rochester Road had been renovated into a graveyard, with flashing zombies and a coffin, in a bid to get some support for their fundraising.

A skeleton dubbed Billy Bones had a pot by the front door to collect donations from trick or treaters as they passed through.

Ms Kidd said she felt like dismantling all her effort on Halloween after she caught a group of kids trying to steal from the pot

She said: "It was our first fundraising event.

"I had been at the front door all night and just popped in to refill the candy bowl and i heard some noises outside.

"We went back out the door and caught them with their hands in the bowl. No idea how much they got away with.

"I felt totally fed up and like taking it all down."

People reacted on social media encouraging Ms Kidd to keep up her impressive decorations.

One commenter said: "That's terrible, but you have done really well it looks lovely."

Another said: "It looks so good I hope you still raise some money."

The step mother and daughter team are aiming to raise £3,600 towards Spinal Research.

They are continuing to fundraise through a Justgiving Page which can be found here.