Traders take action against sick spate of shoplifting in their town in Milton Keynes

Traders in Newport Pagnell are taking matters into their own hands following a sick spate of shoplifting in the town’s High Street.

Stores have reported thousands of pounds worth of goods stolen over recent weeks by what seems to be an organised crew.

And yesterday (Wednesday) at least seven charity boxes were stolen as the crooks went from store to store.

“Shoplifting in Newport Pagnell happens regularly with Superdrug, the Co-op, Jardines and Boots being particularly targeted,” said Philippa Handy, who runs the Vintage Emporium in the High Street.

The Emporium houses more than 40 small, independent businesses selling hand-made goods and curios.

"We have had had £1000 worth of jewellery stolen recently,” said Philippa.

"We all have numerous photos and videos of the serial shoplifters. We have videos of the people who stole the charity boxes. They tried ours but it was chained down.

"We have videos of our jewellery theft, however they used a WiFi blocker on our ring cameras.”

Philippa added:. ”We are all reporting every single theft online to the police but they don’t seem to do anything very much. We have one PCSO in Newport Pagnell at the moment but he can’t do anything on his own. There is another one in training.”

One person was arrested last week on suspicion of shoplifting, but the others are still at large, say traders.

“The main culprits are known to us and we even know where they live but nothing is being done to stop them,” said Philippa.

Now the shopkeepers have taken matters into their own hands to set up a Shopwatch group so they can warn each other when the offenders enter the town.

“The shops all communicate with each other via messenger sending photos, videos and words of warning about who is in the town,” said Philippa. “We all have stories to tell. It’s destroying the high street and we are trying to fight back with very little support. “

Recently the Emporium published photos and videos of the offenders on social media – and this actually resulted in some of the stolen goods being returned.

"It shamed one mother to the extent that she bought her daughter in to return our goods and apologise. We had a clock stolen and again someone related to the thief brought it back in to us,” said Philippa.

In January, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commission Matthew Barber announced a new Retail Crime Strategy designed to clamp down on shoplifters.

It included the creation of a Business Crime Team within the force to improve investigations and identify prolific offenders, and also the rollout of Operation Purchase, an operational response to increase the visible presence of police officers and PCSOs in retail spaces.

Police officers response to reports of shoplifting would improve too, he vowed.

Mr Barber said at the time: “Many people see retail crime as a victimless crime, but it has a profound impact on retail staff, customers and the wider economy.”