Home Bargains set up ‘confidential hotline’ to report shoplifting with £500 reward

Home Bargains sets up confidential hotline where customers can give the company information on shoplifters

Home Bargains has launched a new crackdown on shoplifting in its stores (PA )

A high street retailer is offering customers a £500 reward to help them catch shoplifters in their stores.

Home Bargains has launched a confidential hotline for customers to report information about shoplifting and crime at their stores. It has also put up posters offering customers a reward of up to £500 if they give a tip-off that leads to prosecution, according to The Telegraph.

The retail chain’s crackdown on shoplifting comes after police recorded a total of 275,076 shoplifting offences in England and Wales last year, up 24 per cent when compared with the previous 12 months. The cost of living crisis, which has seen energy bills and food prices soar, has been blamed for the rise.

Potential shoplifters have been warned by Home Bargains that all of its locations have CCTV cameras and that anyone discovered stealing will be prosecuted, either by police or by civil action brought by the retailer.

Customers were informed by Home Bargains at one of its Liverpool locations that the business has more than 30 cameras that cover the entire premises.

The Telegraph quoted the poster as saying: “Even if not caught at the time, we use this CCTV evidence to pursue shoplifters after they have left the store. As well as police prosecutions, we also carry out civil prosecutions against shoplifters.”

Home Bargains is not alone in its crackdown on shoplifting. In August, John Lewis said it would offer officers free coffee and discounted food in a bid to tackle the issue.

The upmarket chain hopes uniformed police and patrol cars being on site will deter thieves in the same way motorists slow down on the roads when they see officers.

Over the past 18 months, retailers have adopted a variety of crime-prevention strategies, including additional security guards, lowering the number of products on shelves, and requiring customers to scan their receipts to exit. 

The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that crime is costing retailers in the UK more than £1bn a year in stolen goods and around £715m in crime prevention measures.

According to a recent study by TradingPedia, the City of London had the highest rate of shoplifting rate at 7,907 incidents per 100,000 residents followed by Cleveland and North Yorkshire - which had the second-highest rate on 1005 per 100,000 residents.

Surrey had the lowest shoplifting rate at 309 cases per 100,000 residents.