The father of a teenager battling cancer whose charity tins were stolen says the family is “gutted.”

Thieves have taken four collection pots for Kelly Turner Fundraising from take-away outlets in Dover.

The 17-year-old from Dover needs £1 million for specialist treatment in America.

Martin Turner told the Mercury: “I am bloody annoyed to hell. It is quite a depressing thought that someone will steal these for their own means.

“We are all gutted because we are desperately trying to save Kelly’s life. So to me these thefts are tantamount to attempted murder.

“Some people can be just awful and I hate the ones who did this.

“There have been thefts of these tins before but it has never been done on this scale.

“There is nothing we can do about it except appeal for witnesses to go to the police.”

The first theft was at the Dovorian Restaurant at Priory Place at 12.15pm on Wednesday, September 6.

CCTV shows a man lifting the collection pot from the counter of the take-away section, taking into the toilet and putting it in a carrier bag before walking out.

Mr Turner said: “Those boxes are sealed and can only be opened once with a tin opener. So I think the thief put it in a plastic bag to take it out.”

The second theft was from the Tennessee Fried Chicken premises in Cherry Tree Avenue on Thursday, September 7.

The exact time is not yet confirmed.

Thieves then took a tin from the White Cliffs Bakery at Buckland Avenue, on Monday, September 11. It was reported to police just after 1.30pm.

The fourth theft was on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 12, from the Amarillo’s Sandwich Bar in Worthington Street, Dover.

In early August another collection tin for Kelly was stolen from the Red House Chinese take-away in Ladywell, Dover.

On July 27. 2016 a box was stolen from a shop in Hythe and there was an attempted theft of one at La Salle Verte cafe in Cannon Street, Dover, on August 2 of that year.

Kelly has a rare cancer called desmoplastic small round cell tumours.

She needs a total £1 million for specialist surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy in at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.

Chemotherapy is keeping her alive and she is now on specialised tablets until then, which are not available on the NHS and cost an average £2,6000 a month.

They are being dispensed by the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

You can donate to Kelly Turner Fundraising at justgiving.com/fundraising/kelly-turner2000.

Or you can pay into the NatWest bank account, sort code 600704 and number 39767000.

NatWest will also take donations of old round £1 coins before they cease to become legal tender on Sunday, October 15.

Anyone with information concerning these latest thefts should call Kent Police on 101.