Crackdown on city centre shoplifters

Stuart Grainger, from Coventry BID, said they were looking to identify repeat offenders

Coventry's Business Improvement District (BID) is introducing new systems to encourage retailers to report crime and cut shoplifting.

Street patrols and a radio reporting system are now being used to combat the problem, which costs some shops thousands of pounds in stolen goods.

Stuart Grainger, security manager at the BID, said the issue of retail theft was one the organisation was determined to tackle.

"Across the board there's retention problems with shoplifting, the levels of aggression from shoplifters have risen, and not just in Coventry, that's across the whole of the UK," he explained.

"We're looking to identify repeat offenders, so we can maybe get these people banned from the city centre," Mr Grainger added.

The BID team said it was working with West Midlands Police to reduce retail crime and ensure it was quick and easy to report incidents when they happened.

The force said in August that it had seen a sharp increase in shoplifting arrests, although some traders have queried how effective moves against retail crime have been.

The BID's work includes educating staff on how to report crime, and why it is important to report incidents even after they have taken place.

Regular crime reduction meetings are also being held, attended by businesses and retailers in the city.

BID street patrols in Coventry have so far recovered stolen goods worth £750 since the start of September and on average recover around £2,000 of stock per month from shoplifters in the city.