Tesco store refuses to let customers enter until they have been seen on CCTV amid surge in shoplifting

17 April 2024, 05:50

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

A Tesco store has started to refuse entry to customers until they have been seen on CCTV amid a surge in shoplifting across the country.

The branch, on North Street in Bristol, does not open the automatic doors until customers have been scanned by the cameras.

Customers are made to wait on the other side of the door until staff consider it safe to let them enter the store.

“It has got so bad we have to check who is coming in,” one worker told The Sun.

“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,” they added.

The Tesco store is the first in the country to bring in the policy and runs between 6am and 9am, as well as in the evenings, when there are no security guards working.

It follows a number of other supermarket chains bringing in measures to try and stop a rise in shoplifting.

Read More: ‘Enough is enough’: PM launches crackdown on serial shoplifters ripping off Britain's retailers as new offence created

Read More: Sainsbury's introduces AI security cabinets in latest bid to tackle spike in shoplifting

Home Bargains, a major variety store chain in the UK, has set up a confidential hotline for members of the public to report “any information” they have on thefts or crimes in the chain’s stores.

In return, they could receive £500.

Meanwhile, last year, one Sainsbury's store stoped customers leaving until they had scanned their receipt.

Stores in Balham, South London and Winnersh, Berkshire were amongst some of those impacted by the new move.

Last week, Rishi Sunak launched a fresh crackdown on serial shoplifters, with the Government making assaulting a shopworker a separate criminal offence.

Ministers had previously ruled out creating a separate criminal offence, insisting it was not "required".

But the Government has now changed its position, with the prime minister announcing that the Criminal Justice Bill would be amended to bring in the new offence.

"I am sending a message to those criminals - whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves - who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough," Mr Sunak said.

"Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse."