Charity shop with mannequin highlighting homelessness has been forced to replace it after it was stolen

By Bradley Stokes and Emma Fradgley via SWNS

A charity shop boss who refused to remove a mannequin outside his shop when people mistook it for a dead body has been forced to replace the dummy - after it was stolen.

Chris Lee placed the figure in a sleeping bag outside his shop window to highlight homelessness in Malvern, England, just before Christmas.

"There are lots of people who live in hardship here in Malvern. Not everybody will agree with us and I understand that," said Chris,a former rough sleeper himself.

"There is a lot of hardship in the world and we are just trying to help. We are trying to make people more sympathetic to homelessness.

"It's hard to survive on the streets, especially in the winter when it's cold and wet.

"We are just trying to make people look and think: 'that person might be in trouble, how can I help?'"

But police were called by locals who thought the mannequin was a body while others mistook it for a real person, with some offering it food and coffee.

Officers even suggested Chris, who owns the store called Amaze, should remove the dummy for causing "distress" to members of the public.

Chris defiantly refused to remove the display but has now been forced to replace the mannequin after it was bizarrely pinched by thieves on December 27.

The replacement shows a head poking out of a box, emblazoned with the message: "4 in 10 homeless people live in a place not intended for humans, like this box."

The display comes three years after a rough sleeper, Joby Sparrey, was found dead in a shop doorway on Christmas Day not far from the charity shop.

"Out of respect for Joby we took the mannequin down for Christmas," Chris said.

"I'd taken the head inside for a paint touch up but all the body parts were neatly piled up outside held down by the two bags of gravel that had been the stomach and thighs.

"What a surprise I discovered on the Monday after Christmas - everything had been stolen.

"The wooden body frame, the bags of gravel, the pillows and the sleeping bag together with the two carrier bags of 'possessions' had all been stolen.

"All we have now is the head. The head has been touched up and we have put it inside of a giant cardboard box instead.

"It has been reinstated in the same place, on our doorstep. It has had a bit of attention and a few comments.

"More people come in and say 'fantastic.' It's creating great comment and debate' I've been stopped in the Co-Op and asked how it's going.

"Apart from one lady who was quite abusive and the one policewoman who was really quite aggressive, the response has been positive.

"People have been offering to help in the shop and donate clothes, one woman even brought a box of satsumas in for all of the people who work here.

"It has got a debate going, it's worked.

Chris was previously left shocked when a member of the public complained to cops about the life-like dummy and was visited by an officer four days before Christmas.

"They said it was 'too distressing' but I responded saying that the plight of homelessness is distressing," Chris said.

"The display is there to evoke comment and start a conversation, but the police officer thought that it was too shocking an image and could cause an accident.

"It's just our way of saying please be aware and help the homeless if you can.

"We have no intention of moving the mannequin, it is making people aware and making people think.

"It's the reality of life, there is a number of people suffering."

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: "The officer had spoken with the manager to highlight that the mannequin looked very life-like and could easily have been mistaken for a dead body given its appearance and that this had been the case with us receiving such feedback.

"This was also likely to cause both some distress to the public and unnecessary calls to police so it was requested the display be adapted so as to not cause either of these issues."