Ice bucket challenge: Man steals ice, bucket and water, takes challenge in Waitrose, leaves

Friend filmed the man taking the challenge with the stolen goods before the pair left

Two men walked into a Waitrose, stole the tools to do the ice bucket challenge, filmed it, and walked out without paying (Rex )

A man stole a bottle of water, a packet of ice and a flower bucket from a Waitrose supermarket and proceeded to perform the ice bucket challenge on site while being filmed by his friend, before the pair walked out without paying.

Essex police are now investigating the theft of the items, which amount to £4, form the Saffron Walden Waitrose and have released descriptions of the two suspects.

Both men are white and in their late 20s. One has short blond hair and was wearing a stripy t-shirt, blue jacket and trainers. The other has short brown hair and was wearing bright orange trousers.

The act of stealing the items to conduct the challenge goes against its very principles, which is to raise money for the ALS and MNDA charities, which conduct research into motor neurone disease.

The challenge itself, which has seen the likes of Matt Damon, Donatella Versace and George Bush take part in, has raised over £6 million for the MNDA in the UK alone, while donations in the US to ALS has topped $100m.

Pam Wilkie, chair of the Cambridgeshire branch of MNDA, told Cambridgeshire News she was “sad” to hear the news.

“Thoughtless planning like this can be detrimental to the charity’s work. It’s a shame that is has been done inappropriately,

“It is sad that this happened in Saffron Walden as they raise a lot of money for our branch.”