Tesco store puts padlocks on bacon and sausages...

[dutchman]

Tesco Express branch in Bermondsey, south London, said measure was to ‘protect stock and availability’ in cost of living crisis



A Tesco store resorted to locking sausages and bacon in a fridge in an attempt to prevent shoplifting.

The Tesco Express branch in Bermondsey, south London, placed a notice on its chilled meats cabinet warning that it was locked to “protect stock and availability”. Customers were told to ask a member of staff for assistance in order to purchase items.

Consumer expert Jane Hawkes said: “It’s a very worrying sign of the times that supermarkets are resorting to locking away produce to prevent shoplifting during the cost of living crisis.”

She added that extreme measures were becoming increasingly common as prices increased and “the number of those struggling to make ends meet rises”.

Tesco, the country’s biggest supermarket chain, said some higher-value items required increased security at individual stores, but this was not a policy decided by its head office. The Bermondsey shop has now removed the lock and sign.

Crime concerns have prompted supermarkets to implement extra security measures, fearful that double-digit inflation will encourage theft.

As the price of butter surged last summer, Asda added security tags to £6 packs of Lurpak amid a spate of thefts.

Clive Black, a retail expert, said: “Supermarkets are having to deploy a lot of people and technology to meet the shoplifting challenge.

“With inflation comes hardship for some and shoplifting becomes part of getting by while, for the less scrupulous, higher prices mean opportunity.”

Cases of theft across the industry surged by 16 per cent in the three months to last October, according to a Freedom of Information request lodged by The Telegraph

Data from more than 20 police forces showed they were called to 10,019 cases, up from 8,602 in July. Tesco and Sainsbury’s proved the most popular targets for thieves, accounting for two-fifths of reports.

[rebbonk]

The Bermondsey shop has now removed the lock and sign.

Bit of a non-story, but I expect (or used to) better from The Telegraph.