A man was caught smirking as he swiped a tip jar from a kiosk in West Bay.

Staff at Baboo Gelato were left devastated after the tip jar was stolen from the quayside kiosk desk.

The ice cream kiosk mostly employs students and school children who they say "worked super hard offering great customer service all summer long".

CCTV footage, which was posted on social media, records a man walking past the kiosk, then returning 15 seconds later and appearing to steal the jar of money, smirking as he passes by.

The News has not been allowed to show the footage. Dorset Police are investigating the theft.

In a post to their Facebook page, the owners of Baboo Gelato wrote: "Watch out for this guy! He stole our kiosk staff's hard-earned tip jar yesterday afternoon.

"Our team, mostly students and school kids, worked super hard offering great customer service all summer long, and this guy smirks as he steals their tips. Let us know if you recognise him."

It happened on Thursday, September 7.

Annie Hanbury, owner of Baboo Gelato said: "It was very sad and it is very low to steal tips.

"I feel very sorry for all of our staff, they are all kids working very hard to earn some money during school holidays so it was very sad for them.

"The staff member who was working in the kiosk at the time was tidying up, it was a quiet point in the afternoon.

"The man was quite brazen about it.

"The kiosk owner next door asked if we had our tip jar stolen as he said he saw someone with a jar of money looking pleased with themselves."

Annie said the reaction from Bridport locals after the theft was "incredible", with one member of the public setting up a GoFundMe to recuperate the staff tips.

She said: "We have had an incredible response from the people of Bridport, it has really cheered us on."

A post on the fundraising page said: "The hardworking team at Baboo kiosk in West Bay, Dorset, unfortunately, had their tip jar stolen, this was the hard work of mainly students and school kids from working during the summer. Looking to see if we can raise the funds to give back to the team."

The fundraiser has raised over £40, which Anna said is likely to have covered the cost of the stolen tips

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "We have received a report of the theft from a tip jar at a kiosk in West Bay that occurred at around 3.30pm on Thursday, September 7.

"Enquiries into the matter are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time."