Middle classes join the shoplifting surge

An underclass of thieves is also being joined by middle-class shoplifters, say experts.

A study by the Centre for Retail Research showed a 6.2 per cent leap in theft from shops, with clothing, meat and beauty products also among the most frequently stolen.

The Global Retail Theft Barometer said the steep increase was due to a combination of shoplifting, fraud, organised crime and administrative errors.

Russell Holland, marketing director of analyst Checkpoint Systems, which compiled the report, said it was no longer only the hard-up who shoplifted. He said: “You might have a good income and lifestyle and want to maintain it. There is no typical shoplifter any more. It’s a broad profile across age, ethnic group, gender and income bands, and one finding of our report is that it is getting broader all the time.”

Detection is also hard because low-cost goods such as cheese and health and beauty items like mascara are not fitted with security tags.

Mr Holland said: “Cheese is an everyday item you can hide easily. Mascara is small and relatively easy to steal and frees up expenditure for other items.”

Neil Matthews, vice-president of Checkpoint Europe, said: “It’s extremely worrying that the actions of some people can end up affecting innocent families financially, which is a cost the majority of people can ill-afford in this tough economic climate.”

The study found some items traditionally targeted by shoplifters, such as alcohol and electronics, had fallen out of favour due to better security measures such as tagging, plastic casing and better staff training.

Scotland bucked this trend, however, with champagne and whisky still targets for shoplifters, according to the report’s author, Professor Joshua Bamfield.

He blamed current economic troubles, the “bust” political system and the media for creating a climate of hopelessness that had led to an increase in crime. The combination of these factors also resulted in a common feeling that “no-one is looking after me”, he said.

One Edinburgh supermarket security guard, who did not wish to be named, said: “Meat is the most popular. This year, a whole leg of lamb was stolen. Last week, £700 worth of shopping was taken, including a Hoover.”

However, he disagreed with Prof Bamfield’s assessment of Scotland, saying: “Alcohol used to be a problem but because of tagging, we see it a lot less.”

The average shoplifter steals £79 of goods in a single session, according to the report. It is now in its 11th year, and details the potential profit lost due to retail crime in 43 countries around the world. India tops the list by a large margin, with 2.38 per cent of sales lost in the year to June 2011.

Taiwan was the least affected, with only 0.91 per cent of potential sales lost. The UK ranked 29th of the 43 countries, which was better than most of southern Europe, including France, Spain, Italy, and Greece.

Professor Leigh Sparks, of the Institute of Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, said the UK was “not out of line” with Europe and that, contrary to many predictions, there was “not a big recessionary impact at all”.