A thief who snatched hundreds of charity dollars collected by schoolchildren for a hospice was branded "desperate" or "deranged" last night.

The man grabbed a bag containing about six or seven hundred dollars from a teacher supervising young volunteers from Victor Scott Primary School who had given up their Saturday morning to help raise funds for Agape House.

The incident, which happened outside Miles Market food store, on Pitts Bay Road, Pembroke, at about 11.20 a.m., left the children, aged about ten or 11, and their female teacher distraught.

The volunteers were selling tickets for the Island's charity Rubber Duck Derby - held every summer in St. George - when the man approached the teacher and offered to make a $4 donation before grabbing the black pouch containing the cash from her hand. He fled to a waiting small blue car outside the supermarket.

Derby organiser Karen Dyer told The Royal Gazette: "It's a pretty sad situation when somebody has to steal from a charity. My personal feeling is that the person out there must be quite deranged mentally or they are on drugs.

"To steal from a charity you have to be quite desperate for money. Most people that desperate are probably using something pretty heavy such as crack.

"I hope when they come down from their drug-induced high they feel really guilty about stealing from a charity. This was people doing community service; these were ten-year-olds with their teacher. I just feel so awful as a volunteer co-ordinator."

Ms Dyer added: "Certainly they were distraught. The teacher rang me and was just in shock. I think I'm still in shock. It's just not Bermuda. Bermuda used to be such a safe place."

Closed-circuit television cameras may have filmed the theft but Ms Dyer said she held out little hope of getting back the money or a blue waist pouch with a Hawaiian print which was also taken and which contained a record of who had bought tickets.

Marty Davis, community service co-ordinator at Victor Scott, said the children involved knew something serious had happened but were dealing with other people at the time.

"I guess it just is a lesson for all the charities that are doing raffles that somehow the money has to be secured in a different way," said Mrs. Davis. "I certainly don't want students having to go through such an experience.

"You just never expect that anybody is going to reach over and grab the money. It's very unfortunate because my students, once they gain their confidence in approaching people, they do very well."

Police have issued a description of the thief: dark-skinned, about 5ft 11in tall and wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. He is believed to have stolen a bottle of alcohol from Miles Market minutes before snatching the charity cash. Anyone with information about the theft should call Police on 295-0011.

People who bought tickets for the derby outside Miles between 9 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on Saturday will still be issued with a duck if they call the Friends of Hospice office on 232-0859. The 11th annual derby takes place on Sunday, June 3 at 2 p.m. at Ordnance Island.