A TESCO store has become the first in Britain to take the extreme measure of checking people on camera before they are allowed in because of the shoplifting epidemic.
The branch in Bristol keeps the automatic doors closed until customers are viewed on CCTV to see if they are suspected thieves.
GettyThe branch of Tesco in the Southville area of Bristol keeps its doors closed until shoppers have been checked on the CCTV (stock image)[/caption]
Shoppers have to wait on the other side of the glass until staff deem they are not a threat and then are let in.
The chain has also removed baskets from the store entrance because thieves were loading up with stolen goods and scarpering.
One worker told The Sun: “It has got so bad we have to check who is coming in.
“We know some of them and just don’t let them in the shop.
“They just fill up a basket and laugh at us and say ‘you can’t catch me’ and walk off.
“It’s considerably worse first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It’s also quite scary being in the shop knowing that there is nothing you can do to stop them.
“I think they know that this is the case and that’s why they have become so cocky.”
The nightclub-style door policy came in last week and runs between 6-9am and in the late evenings when no security guards are present.
The Sun watched as workers grabbing groceries and sandwiches from the branch stood outside looking puzzled before being granted entry.
On one occasion, a scruffy-looking man who dumped his bike on the pavement outside, was refused access and rode off.
The shop is on North Street in the affluent Southville area of the city where house prices average more than £400,000.
Bristol was recently revealed to have the most expensive house prices outside of London.
But the cost of living crisis and a problem with drug addicts and homelessness has led to a spike in shoplifting.
Carpenter Stewart Usher, 47, from Bedminster, Bristol, said: “They are completely brazen.
“I’ve seen them just walk into a shop and fill up with food and walk out.
“There is only usually a young person looking after the store and they just have to stand by and let them do it.
“If you try to stop them you don’t know what trouble you are getting yourself into and so these people know they can get away with it.
“These aren’t people desperate to feed their families because they haven’t got any money, these are people stealing to fuel their drug habit. It’s an easy way of getting money.”
They know no-one will come after them so I’ve seen them just walk in, take what they want and walk out
Jon Leitch
Construction site manager, Jon Leitch, 56, said: “These shoplifters don’t even have the decency to run away.
“They know no-one will come after them so I’ve seen them just walk in, take what they want and walk out. What has this country come to that shoplifting can go unpunished like this.
“These people aren’t doing it because they are hungry – they are doing it to raise money for drink or drugs.”
The manager of the local pub, The Masonic, has even put up a sign barring shoplifters coming in and trying to sell stolen goods.
Alison Docherty, 55, said: “Over the last few weeks the number of shoplifters coming in here and trying to sell stolen goods has rocketed.
“It seems they target the shops early in the morning and then as soon as we are open they are in here pestering our customers.
“They are selling everything from razor blades to packets of ham.
“Shoplifting was something that you very rarely heard of in the past but now it’s happening on an hourly basis.
POLICE ‘ARE NOT INTERESTED’
“We call the police but they are not interested – they can’t be bothered with the paperwork involved in processing these thieves.”
Tesco’s closed-door policy follows reports of security tags being put on dozens of mundane items from butter to chocolate, coffee and dishwasher tablets.
Some stores have resorted to placing roast chickens and steaks within a padlocked fridge.
Shopkeeper Devaki Jones, 40, who runs Plant Studio, near the Tesco branch, said the local business community group is hugely concerned with what has been happening.
‘UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY’
She said: “A lot of businesses in the neighbourhood have CCTV and I think what Tesco is doing is unfortunately necessary because of the scourge of shoplifting.
“I run a house plant store so probably not the obvious place for someone to come and shoplift from me but it is a real worry.
“There have been knifepoint robberies and thefts in the area over recent months and we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves because it seems the police aren’t that interested in coming out to shoplifting incidents.”
A spokesman for Tesco said all Tesco Express stores have a remote-control door access system available to staff which can be used at times when assaults or thefts are likely to occur.
He added the company has invested tens of millions of pounds in the last four years on other security measures including body-worn cameras, protection screens and digital radios.
Avon and Somerset Police was approached for a comment.
GettyThe store has had problems with shoplifters (stock image)[/caption]