Potential shoplifters in Market Drayton have been warned to expect a crackdown by police following a spate of recent thefts from shops in the town.
The warning came from Police Constable Martin Powell at a meeting of the town council last week.
He said that some of the thieves were particularly targeting larger stores to help fund their drug habits.
“Recently there have been certain parts of the criminal fraternity that have turned to shoplifting,” PC Powell said.
“It seems to be a crime of favour at the moment with drug users stealing alcohol and meat before selling it for the next fix.”
He said that police were carrying out a purge of shop thefts in the town, taking strong action against anyone who was caught.
“These people normally target the bigger stores and we are having quite a bit of a purge on thefts from stores and we are taking strong action,” PC Powell said.
“Once it is reported to the police, it is not up to the store whether they prosecute.”
Councillor Val Taylor told the meeting that some shops are taking action themselves to combat the shoplifters.
Shelves are being stacked with empty boxes and customers only receive the contents when they pay for them at the cash tills.
“Things must be really bad for shop keepers to do that,” she said.
A Shopwatch scheme has been running in Market Drayton for more than 12 months where traders can alert police, as well as other shops, to thefts that may be taking place.
PC Powell encouraged larger stores in the town to do something similar in an attempt to cut down the number of shoplifting incidents.
“When you see some of the staffing levels in some of the stores, it is easy to see why it is quite easy to steal,” he said: “They have cut the staffing down to the bare minimum.
“It is quite apparent that a Shopwatch scheme works in the town and it would assist us if some of the larger stores were to do the same thing.”
