Retail therapy as thieves get shop ban

RETAILERS are celebrating a massive drop in shoplifting after known thieves were banned from town centre stores.

Firms who signed up to the Oldham Against Business Crime scheme have seen shoplifting rates drop by 29 per cent between April and June compared with the same period last year.

Shops also reported a 25 per cent reduction in stock loss after 27 repeat offenders were excluded from retail premises under the scheme.

Nightlife violence has also seen a slight reduction with seven exclusion orders were taken out against violent offenders, banning them from town centre nightspots.

The initiative is part of the Business improvement District (BID) scheme, which operates mainly in the Yorkshire Street area and charges members increased business rates to fund projects such as clean-ups and extra police officers.

Town centre inspector John Taylor said: “This is encouraging for us.

“If we can stop habitual offenders coming into the town centre then we can concentrate our resources on those criminals who are operating at a higher level.”

Caroline Davanzo, chairman of Pub Watch and manager of the Squire Knott on Yorkshire Street, added: “The exclusion scheme is already proving to be an excellent addition to the current initiatives led by Oldham Against Business Crime.

“The partnership is bringing our businesses together, and we will all able to identify and target problems more easily.”

As well as the exclusion orders, the partnership has issued more than 40 warning letters to offenders who have been arrested for the first time.

Offenders have been told that their details are being retained by the partnership, and an exclusion order will be issued if they are involved in crime in the future.

Town centre manager Mark Lester said: “The scheme is proving very popular.

“We have even had enquiries from businesses outside the BID area who are interested in becoming members, so we are considering developing a paid-for membership scheme.”