Britain’s shoplifting epidemic: Inside a supermarket under siege by thieves | Times Reports

“Keep an eye on this one,” says Amelia, the unflappable manager of a busy Bristol Co-op store, from her office in the basement. She has spotted a man on CCTV dump his bicycle haphazardly on the pavement and walk into the store with a large backpack, grab a basket and head straight for the chilled aisle. These are all tell-tale signs that he could be a shoplifter. Within seconds, he has stuffed 14 packs of £ own-brand cheddar into his rucksack. The more expensive £ Cathedral City-branded cheddar is encased in locked plastic casing, which he avoids. Zipping up his rucksack, he begins piling all types of meat into the basket — six packets of honey roast ham, six packets of salami, five packets of topside roast beef, two packets of bacon strips, pork sausages, spicy chicken wings and a tub of Anchor butter. Fridges are left open, packaging is upturned, shelves are stripped bare. Customers are shopping in the same aisle at the time, seemingly oblivious. The Sunday Times had spent fewer than three hours in the store before this happened, after being invited to witness the US-style looting that some supermarkets are facing on a daily basis. Shop theft nationally has risen by 27 per cent in the past year, according to the British Retail Consortium. Historically, retailers have refused to talk about shoplifting for fear it will scare off customers. However, John Lewis, Tesco and Asda have all joined Co-op in speaking out in recent weeks. Read more on this story: Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on Instagram: #crime #shoplifting #ukcrime #uk