Tesco store introduces strict new basket rules but not 'universal policy'

A Tesco store has began security tagging shopping baskets to stop customers shoplifting. The major supermarket giant has started tagging baskets at its Theydon Bois store in Essex with Tesco staff blaming the move on rising thefts in the area.

Tesco said it was not a universal policy and the decision to introduce the measure was down to the local store's team. The measure comes just days after one branch in Bristol was checking customers on CCTV before letting them in the door in a “nightclub-style door policy''.

The Bristol branch has also moved their shopping baskets away from the doors to stop thieves piling them up with shopping and running out. One shopper in the Essex village, James Beach, 45, said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw they had stuck tags on shopping baskets - I mean, what are you going to do with one of them?

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"Is there nothing these people won't nick?" He added: "I spoke to one of the staff and she said they'd had loads of thefts so they were tagging the baskets now to try and deter people." Supermarkets have traditionally tagged food and drink items to deter theft.

But now a Tesco in Essex is taking the unprecedented step of tagging their shopping baskets. A group of retailers, including John Lewis, has agreed to fund a police operation, called "Project Pegasus", to crack down on shoplifting.

Ten retailers will spend about £600,000 on the project, which will use CCTV pictures and data provided by the shops to get a better understanding of shoplifters' operations. Data on shoplifting incidents from various retailers will be collected and looked at by analysts and intelligence officers.

According to figures from retail trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC), retail thefts across the sector in England and Wales rose by 26% in 2022.