Shoplifters were caught in the act by an ITV camera crew interviewing London Fed member Ben Selvaratnam last week at his Freshfields Market store in Croydon.

The shop owner told Better Retailing his store and many others are “on the front line” of retail crime, and that he is losing hundreds of pounds in stock each day.

Since BBC and ITV news teams used his shop to illustrate the UK-wide issue, he said police patrols had increased.

The ITV reporters caught three shoplifters in the three-to-four hours they were in Selvaratnam’s store.

The retailer told Better Retailing: “A picture paints a thousand words. There’s a lot more concern around retail crime at the moment, and it’s important the government reacts to it, especially with elections on the way.”

Selvaratnam backed the Fed’s calls for £1,500 grants for retailers to invest in security measures, but said a wider response was also needed. “The supermarkets now have Project Pegasus [running CCTV through a national database of shoplifters], but it will just push crime on us unless we receive support,” he said.

“Similar technology for independents, such as FaceWatch, can cost £5,000, so £1,500 will be helpful, but we also need more support from the police and the courts.”

The Fed’s security-grant petition reached 500 signatures last week.

The campaign also received coverage in the Mail on Sunday Scotland and the Scottish Sun.

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