HEARTLESS thieves armed with cutting gear and lifting equipment are stealing tons of clothing left in charity bins across Glasgow.

One city charity is losing up to four tons a month and spending thousands replacing damaged bins.

Ross Galbraith, of Glasgow The Caring City, said in some cases thieves were lifting the metal containers and making off with them.

He believes his staff are being watched, and estimated the problem is costing Scottish charities up to £750,000 a year.

He said: "We're constantly battling against it. Every one of our banks has been targeted at one time. Some of them are repaired and put back out, and targeted again within days.

"The one outside Sainsbury's in East Kilbride is targeted two or three times a month."

He said he believed it was organised crime, with staff under surveillance before the thieves swoop in, using cutting equipment to steal clothing or putting glue in the locks so the charity can't get the clothes out. The thieves then return later to steal what's inside.

He added: "If they take the containers, they respray them and put them out to collect new donations.

"It must cost our organisation, in terms of lost donations and repairs, about £700 each time.

"It happens a few times a month, sometimes it can be a few times a week."

Ross said they had resorted to filming the thieves and tracking down details of a hire van, before passing them to police.

He said: "We're not talking about a couple of chancers.

"There are people monitoring our staff so they know when they are going in to empty the bins.

"They have the financial wherewithal to have cutting gear, vans and lifting equipment. They also have the facility to process the textiles they are stealing, and they've got buyers.

"I don't understand why this isn't being taken seriously by the police. It's so organised it's almost got a godfather-type or kingpin at the top."

Ross said he currently has 12 containers in the charity's yard at Shawfield waiting to be repaired.

He added: "It's not just us affected, it's the local schools and groups who have done collections for us.

"People see this as being like stealing from a rag and bone man. It's not.

"Our factory in Shawfield has 50 staff supporting the process. We are talking about people's jobs. People here and in Africa need the clothes."

Glasgow The Caring City is not the only charity affected by the thefts.

Liz Sim, manager of the Oxfam Shop in Clarkston, said they had problems not just with theft from clothing banks but fewer donations making it through the doors of their shops.

She said: "We feel first-hand the result of theft in the shape of fewer donations arriving at our shop. We are taking proactive action to ensure that these thefts stop.

"I would like to reassure members of the public and our donors that Oxfam recognises that clothing banks are an important and valued source of donations to Oxfam shops.

"It's important that our donors realise that all of the clothes and accessories that are gifted to clothing banks do help fund our life changing work around the world."

She urged anyone who saw suspicious behaviour around clothing banks to report it to police or their local council.

She added: "Donors who are particularly concerned should, if possible, take their donations of clothing to their local Oxfam shop. Every donation makes a positive difference to our vital work around the world."

Figures from the British Heart Foundation estimate that the average bag of clothes placed in one of their 3000 bins around the UK generates £7 for good causes. Some of the donated items are sent to Third World countries while others are recycled.

The charity said it was losing millions across the UK a year to theft.

Matt George, Oxfam's head of trading logistics, told the Textile Recycling Association (TRA) that the charity had suffered 331 thefts in 2012, worth up to £2m.

Mr George said it was countering such crime by appointing a security consultant, replacing the stock of bins with more theft-proof models and emptying the bins more often.

He said that after initial frustration at a lack of police support, an improved relationship had resulted in 96 investigations, 24 prosecutions and the jailing of six people.

Across the UK, there have been reports of gangs from Eastern Europe carrying out a growing number of raids, stealing clothing and selling it abroad.

The Evening Times has previously reported how thieves resort to stuffing banks with rubbish including beer cans and cat litter -so would-be donors leave their items sitting next to the bins, allowing easy access for thieves.

A spokesman for Nathan's Wastesavers - which provides clothes banks for charities, councils and other firms - said the problem had reached crisis point in East Kilbride.

He said: "These people are dumping beers cans and cat litter, among other items, into the clothes banks so that people cannot open the chute.

"We have been given reports of men hanging around and picking up the donations every hour or so. It's despicable to steal from charities in this way.

"I reported it to the police, passing on descriptions of men and car registrations."

One company, which manages 125 clothing banks, said it was losing £40,000 worth of clothing, shoes and handbags every year, and that up to 40% of its clothing banks had been broken into.

A1 Textiles director Gordon Fraser said he also had to pay around £20,000 a year to repair broken locks and banks.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said they were aware of thefts from clothing banks in Glasgow. She said: "These are being investigated and police are working with local businesses and the companies involved to disrupt this criminal activity."