Hampshire's shoplifting rates are among UK's highest, study finds

SHOPLIFTING rates across Hampshire are among some of the worst in the UK, new data has revealed.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jun 2018, 19:06 BST
Updated 19th Jun 2018, 16:39 BST

A total of 13,590 shoplifting offences were reported to Hampshire Constabulary in 2017/18.

This is an increase of eight per cent on the previous year’s figure of 12,578, putting the county seventh highest on the list of the UK’s 42 police forces.

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The data was compiled by online retailer, OnBuy.com, which recorded a total of 378,725 shoplifting incidents nationally in the past financial year.

The news comes after research by the British Retail Consortium showed that shoplifting accounted for £500m of the £700m direct cost incurred from retail crime in the UK between April 2016 and March 2017.

Cas Paton, managing director of OnBuy.com, said the crime was ‘financially burdening retailers’, adding there were ‘cost-effective’ ways to avoid falling victim from training employees to spot potential crooks to placing up signs to warn criminals of the punishment they face if caught.