Grant for independent shops to tackle shoplifting ‘epidemic’

Independent shops in the Bristol region can now apply for a grant of up to £2,000 to help them tackle the shoplifting epidemic.

Shoplifting rates have shot up in the West of England by 41 per cent over the past year, with Bristol hit particularly hard by thieves.

One shopkeeper in south Bristol said thieves regularly steal from his convenience store, while the police are often reluctant to investigate any reported crimes.

Dan Norris, the West of England metro mayor, said his new Safer Shops West scheme could help turn the tide.

Dan Norris with Shafique Awan – photo: WECA

Shopkeepers can now apply to the West of England Combined Authority to match fund security measures such as cameras, to deter and identify shoplifters. The money can also go to body-worn cameras and other anti-theft measures.

Shafique Awan, who runs the St Peters Rise Convenience Store in Headley Park in Bishopsworth, said: “It’s quite frequent, the bigger ones [thefts] probably once or twice a month, the smaller ones five to 10 times a day. Last week I did our inventory and we were down 28 packs of chewing gum.

“The bigger ones could be anything, about £100 or £200. They swipe off the whole shelf. We had somebody once, the door to the store was unlocked, and while the girl here was serving customers, there was a guy in there filling his bag with tobacco.

“After she serves someone, she goes in there to get something, and there’s a man and he’s filling his bag. He darts out, she tries to grab hold of him, he literally drags her all the way through the aisle, and then runs away. That was about £500 [worth of stock].”

The frequent shoplifting has left his staff scared, Awan said, particularly after one incident where a shoplifter held up a knife and stole all the cash in the till. Theft has always been an issue since he took over the shop 12 years ago, but has become worse since the pandemic.

He said: “The police are not capable of dealing with these things anymore. All they’re interested in is giving you a crime reference number. They’ve got a standard answer saying that ‘it’s not in the public interest to follow it’. I don’t know, maybe we’re not the public?

“We’ve got a local area Facebook group. Ninety per cent of the time we can identify who the person is, with people telling us he’s known to the police, he’s been in jail. But the police are not interested. People know if they don’t steal anything over £200, the police won’t do anything. And they are very calculating, these people.”

As well as stealing from his shop, Awan said thieves have tried to sell him goods stolen from elsewhere, such as large Ikea bags full of chickens. He added that he seldom sees police community support officers in the neighbourhood any more.

Awan said: “We had a lady who used to pass by three to four times a day. Every time she would see a group of people, she would stop and have a chat with them. If we ever reported something, she would come over, ask us what’s happened, look at the CCTV, try to identify the person. But I haven’t seen a PCSO or a police car stop over here in four years.”

The new grants from the West of England were set up after Norris, the metro mayor, was approached by a lot of shopkeepers asking for help, and have been backed by leading trade bodies. Norris said gangs were behind the staggering rise in shoplifting

He said: “I’ve been approached by a lot of independent smaller stores because people know that at the moment there’s an epidemic of shoplifting. It’s gone up about 25 per cent across England in the past year, but in our region it’s 41 per cent, so it’s a real hot spot.

“Most of this is about organised crime. Some shops are getting hit several times a day. If you’re a small independent shop, it’s particularly difficult because if you get raided that could be all your profits gone for a whole week. There are a lot of shops that haven’t got [cameras] because they can’t afford it, their margins are so tight. This is to give them security to know they can deter people coming, and it also might be evidential.

“The grants in combination with free advice should help stores that are feeling really vulnerable, and hopefully get them support at a really difficult time. Do I think the government is giving this a high enough priority? No I don’t. It’s a big issue everywhere, but it’s particularly challenging for us.”

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read next:

• Dan Norris named Labour ‘Mayor of the Year’
• Temple Meads named UK’s fourth worst station for bike thefts
• ‘It’s getting harder’: How an east Bristol high street is faring

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