Locals say that some shops are hit up to 50 times a day (Image: Getty)
A UK seaside town, recently named the best place to retire in the UK, is facing a shoplifting epidemic with “30 to 50 incidents a day.” Worthing, Sussex, was recently crowned by the Telegraph as the nation’s best coastal retirement town.
However, beyond the great coastal views and unique independent shops lies an undercurrent of crime, with locals claiming that a major supermarket in the town is the victim of theft on a daily basis.
One person, who holds a senior role in a major supermarket in the town told the Sun: “It’s ridiculous. Some days we see people stealing things every five minutes. Sometimes there are more shoplifters in the shop than customers – about three or four at a time.
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The popular retirement town is said to have an underbelly of petty crime (Image: Getty)
“You get the repeat offenders, a rolling cast of about 20 who we know by name and they’ll be in multiple times a day.
“It’s impossible to judge how much gets nicked.”
He added: “It’s impossible to judge how much gets nicked.
“One guy, who is in custody now, was doing close to a thousand pounds a day by himself.
“He would come in and haul off all the meat, all the coffee, all the detergent, in an IKEA bag without paying.
“A few weeks ago, we saw a guy with a shopping list he was referring to. He had a brief conversation with my colleague then filled a hardware bag with stock and walked out.
“The whole shelf gets cleared and it’s not for personal use because who needs 2kg of coffee?
“The really frustrating thing is this is pushing up prices for honest customers who end up paying for everything that is stolen.”
According to the publication, the major supermarket is just one of several shops that is often targeted by opportunistic thugs all too aware of the strain on police resources that would ordinarily deter them.
A recent study by LEI Register found there were 231.79 thefts per 10,000 residents in Worthing last year, well above the national average of 171 per 10,000.
Separate analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows only Westminster in central London recorded a higher rate of shoplifting, with 25.26 incidents per 1,000 residents compared to 22.8 per 1,000 in Worthing.
Under new government measures which could see prison sentences of less than one year scrapped, as many as 12,000 of the UK’s most prolific shoplifters could be set free on the streets of the UK.
Figures show that 98% of shoplifters currently inside would meet the criteria for “community punishments” under the Sentencing Act, which was passed last year.
Nearly 60% prolific thieves, individuals that have at least 15 previous convictions, avoided jail in 2024, Ministry of Justice data suggests.
This is the largest proportion since the department’s records began more than 10 years ago.
Conservative Shadow Chancellor, Chris Philp, told The Telegraph there will be “no effective punishment” for shoplifters, and the crime will “escalate even further” as a result.
“This is a shoplifters’ charter and means shop theft will snowball out of control,” he added.
Marks and Spencer’s retail director, Thinus Keeve, claimed earlier this week its customer-facing staff were being subjected to violence and abuse every day, and called for the Government and the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, to crack down on crime.
