A top cop at Swadlincote Police Station wants shopkeepers who fall victim to shoplifters to take responsibility for their stock by removing high-value items from near the doorways.

Sergeant Graham Summers, of Swadlincote’s Safer Neighbourhood Team, said the group has formed a revised protocol to put some of the investigative responsibility back onto retailers who leave themselves “wide open” to shoplifters, he claims.

Sergeant Summers previously revealed that theft in Swadlincote had increased by 56 per cent thanks to six shoplifters who had all been released from prison at the same time.

At the time he said more could be done by shopkeepers who, he believes, encourage thieves by placing high-value items near to the door.

He said: “I made it clear (during a recent area forum meeting) that albeit that these people are a menace to society, I believe that the big corporate retailers (who fall victim in most cases), do very little to help themselves, leaving the risk of theft wide open to those who are bold enough to try.

"We at South Derbyshire Safer Neighbourhood Team have put together a revised protocol to put some of the investigative responsibility back on these retailers.

"This is being reviewed by senior management in Derby before we can implement it.

“I know that there has been an outspoken UK Chief Police Officer who has questioned whether big retailers are actually victims if they are so willing to put valuable goods in ‘harm’s way’.

"I acknowledge that this is a controversial standpoint and there are implications by not addressing it robustly, but am sure that members of the public do not want their hard-earned tax money spent on policing crime which a) could be avoided and b) does not financially inconvenience the retailer.

“The police are thinly spread and far better deployed to address community issues effectively, instead of having officers tied up, painstakingly trawling through shop CCTV and taking statements.”