DR Kershaw's Hospice volunteers have been left heartbroken after shops were hit by an 'organised' gang of sickening shop-lifters who even stooped to stealing a baby Jesus doll from a nativity scene window display.

Hospice chiefs called a crisis meeting with staff and police - and have even considered employing security guards - after their outlets were besieged by the light-fingered lowlifes around the borough again and again.

They say the theft of baby Jesus from their Shaw shop was the final straw with hospice income generation and communications manager, David Whaley, saying the incident had 'sickened staff to the core'.

He said the despicable crime wave has reached 'crisis point' with hundreds of pounds worth of items donated in good faith being nabbed from rails and shelves.

“We have always had the odd item go missing but what was a trickle has become a flood and this is not just opportunistic - this is thieving on an organised and industrial scale," said David.

“Some of these thieves are working in teams.

"One, usually a male, will come in and sort rails into blocks of desired items. They will quickly be followed by others, often females, some even with babies, who will busy themselves in the shop and create incidents or accidents that require help from our staff and volunteers.

“These are typical distraction tactics and it is only when the dust settles that the teams realise items have disappeared.

"The hospice shops also reported finding tags ripped off clothing or switched for cheaper price tags in their fitting rooms.

“The fantastic people of Oldham donate lots of quality items and clothing to the charity sector and our staff have been heartbroken at the situation.

"They are having to be on their guard all the time when they should be helping the loyal customers who give us their hard-earned money for such deserving causes."

Dr Kershaw’s and other charity shops are now looking to clamp down on the thieves and with the shops being such a much-relied upon source of vital income for the organisation, time is of the essence.

Police have been advising on a strategy to catch the culprits and the shops have been issued with enforcement letters that can be handed to suspects to tell them they are no longer welcome in the shop.

“We have reviewed our security measures and we will now be reporting every single incident to the police and seeking to prosecute all of those who are found to be taking goods without paying for them," said David.

Meetings are being held across the Dr Kershaw’s retail network to brief their teams of volunteers and they're asking its loyal customer base to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to the manager.

He added: “We have even discussed the possibility of having security guards on the doors – but should it really come to that in a charity shop?"