Cambridge Co-op locks up chicken and chocolate bars in shoplifting crackdown

A Cambridge supermarket has locked up products in security boxes in a bid to deter shoplifters. Items locked in GPS-protected cases at a Co-op on Milton Road included bars of chocolate costing just £2.

The cases were spotted on shelves at the Co-op on Tuesday (June 11). In a bid to ramp up anti-theft measures, the supermarket has locked away meats, cheeses, chocolate, cleaning products, and baby formula.

Photos from the shop show Cadbury's chocolate bars locked in the security boxes, as well as £3 blocks of cheese. Bottles of fabric softener retailing for £2 and packs of chicken thighs costing £4.25 have also been locked up.

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The photos also show four rows of meats including sausages and steaks in cases, while baby formula, coffee, and dishwasher tablets have also been protected in the cases. The security boxes warn shoppers that they need to be removed at checkout before leaving the store, advising that shoplifters will be prosecuted.

In January, the Milton Road store locked £1.25 bars of Galaxy chocolate in security cases. The Co-op said its food business lost £33m in the first six months of 2023.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), shoplifting offences increased by 37 per cent in 2023 to 430,104 offences. That figure is the highest since current police recordings began in 2003.