Police give up on shoplifters who take under £100

IT’S open season for thieves in a town where police have admitted they will not tackle shoplifting – unless more than £100 worth of goods is stolen.

Businesses in Hungerford, Berkshire, have been left vulnerable by the admission from Thames Valley Police, one of Britain’s largest forces.

Sgt Holly Nicholls announced the policy at a town meeting, telling councillors: ‘We won’t be making arrests all the time and taking it through the courts – it’s not practical. For example, we wouldn’t necessarily deal with shopliftings of under £100 now.

‘Our main priorities are violence against the person, burglaries, theft from motor vehicles and so on. In these times of austerity we need to be more cost effective.’

Instead of calling the police to catch the thieves, victims of shoplifting under the threshold will now have ‘a form to fill in’, she added. Nigel Perrin, treasurer of Hunger- ford chamber of commerce, said: ‘It is symptomatic of the pressures on the force’s budget, it is obviously disappointing and will only encourage thieves.’

Sgt Nicholls also said the council will be expected to deal with offences which the police will no longer attend, ‘such as ongoing disputes between neighbours’. The policy, announced on Monday, means the vast majority of shoplifting incidents will go unattended as most cases are far below the threshold of £100.

The Duchess of Cambridge, her sister Pippa and their mother, who lives ten miles away in Bucklebury, often shop in Hungerford, which has a number of high-end designer clothes and fashion boutiques.

The police station in the market town has been put up for sale, which means the closest station will now be in Newbury, eight miles away.

One resident, mother- of-three Jayne Robertson, said: ‘ This is appalling – we’re going to be flooded with criminals who know they’ll get off scot-free if they make sure they keep the bill under £100.

‘What sort of message does this send out? What are we paying our rates for if the police won’t turn up to arrest shoplifters? It’s crazy.’

It is the latest setback for business owners, whose livelihoods are threatened by the cost of shoplifting.

In September 2015, police in Southend, Essex, announced that their retail crime unit was to be axed to make cuts.

Soon after police in Swindon, Wiltshire, informed shop owners that they would no longer attend reports of shoplifting. Instead victims must take down the details of any offenders and file their own statement to the police.

And in 2015, Mark Williams, a businessman from The Wirral, had a fridge stolen and was stunned to hear Merseyside Police would not investigate because it was worth less than £50.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: ‘Officers will continue to investigate shoplifting offences.’