Thieves take £3000 charity cash from pub after sabotaging alarm

It is believed those responsible may have sabotaged an alarm system a day earlier.

Established in 1899, the Dean is one of only a few remaining Scottish pubs operating the Gothenburg system, in which profits are used for the benefit of the community.

The chairwoman of the Dean Tavern Trust, Midlothian councillor Wilma Chalmers, said more than 20,000 had been distributed over the past year.

She said: "The impact will be felt by the village even more than it will be felt by the Dean - it's disgusting that we give so much money to charity and something like this happens.

"We increased the amount of funding we were giving away this year because it's hard for community groups to get funding in this financial climate, and then for this to happen - it's absolutely appalling."

Around 3000 in cash was removed from gaming machines and tills, and attempts were made to force open a large safe, while the CCTV system was smashed up and the hard drives removed in the Monday morning raid.

Bizarrely, the culprits also went through reams of paperwork and piled it in the middle of the floor alongside a fire extinguisher.

Ms Chalmers said: "It looks as if they have known what they were doing and they took their time with some of the things that they did.

"They took all the keys into the office and went through them systematically.

"What they did with the paperwork wasn't vandalism - it's a bit strange and we can't figure it out."

Councillor Chalmers said a set of footprints had been found leading to a window - prompting a theory that one of the culprits had hidden inside the pub before it closed.

Manager Neil Patterson said: "The office door had been jimmied and tools in the office had been used to damage the camera system. They even got a small glass I had on top of my bureau containing 60 for a cancer charity function.

"A magnetic connector had been removed from the alarm so it wouldn't work - they have done it in advance of the night.

"The chap that came to fix the alarm said he had seen the same thing at another club."

The Swedish Gothenburg system - introduced in the 19th century - was an attempt to control the consumption of alcohol by awarding spirit licences to a single company run as a trust, with five per cent of the profit going to the shareholders and the rest being put back in to community.

"They have stolen this money from the community," said Mr Patterson. "These people are stealing from young people and the disabled.

"We are relying on word of mouth to help us catch these people. Hopefully someone will spot somebody who has a bit more cash to flash."

A police spokesman said: "We are appealing for anyone who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area of Main Street in the early hours of Monday morning to contact us."