Tesco is putting a Cadbury chocolate bar worth £1.25 in a safe today – after the supermarket introduced labels on baskets amid fears the cost of living crisis could fuel an increase in shoplifting.

On By Rgal Nv

  • Tesco is the latest major retailer to put safety labels on small chocolate bars
  • Shoplifting is such that even items like a dairy milk bar are stolen.

By Darren Boyle

Published: | Update:

Chocolate bars worth just £1.25 have been placed in security boxes to prevent shoplifting at Tesco.

Daily Milk, Galaxy and Milkybars were enclosed in plastic containers.

The boxes have stickers saying “Ask Staff.”

Customers can’t just take a bar off the shelves, supermarket workers have to buy one for them.

They cost £1.25 for Tesco Clubcard holders or £1.55 without.

Galaxy bars cost £1.35 and Daily Milk costs £2 with a Clubcard or £2.25 without.

They were spotted at a Tesco store in Newham, east London, where there are 16 stores in the borough.

Tesco is putting a Cadbury chocolate bar worth £1.25 in a safe today – after the supermarket introduced labels on baskets amid fears the cost of living crisis could fuel an increase in shoplifting.

Chocolate bars worth just £1.25 were placed in security deposit boxes at a Tesco store in east London due to high levels of theft in stores.

Co-Op was also forced to place chocolate bars in GPS-protected security boxes due to the threat of shoplifting.

Co-Op was also forced to place chocolate bars in GPS-protected security boxes due to the threat of shoplifting.

Stores have been forced to put safety labels on different types of sweets, such as these Haribo at Aldi in Catford, south London.

Stores have been forced to put safety labels on different types of sweets, such as these Haribo at Aldi in Catford, south London.

Former policeman Norman Brennan was furious: “Tesco now puts chocolate bars behind plastic safety barriers.

“Shoplifting is so out of control that the cost of losses over the past year is two billion pounds.”

The former British Transport Police officer said: “And it’s going to go up and up.”

Sharon Rae McGilvray joked: “Funny how they didn’t do it with the fruits and vegetables.”

Luke Senior said: “How long before stores are forced to go back to the old style with salespeople, human or robotic.

“You have to collect everything for clients like Argos or a giant vending machine?

Duncan Gray said: “At £2 they should be locked in a safe in the basement. »

Another added: “As a Londoner since birth I can confirm this place is going to the bin. »

One said: “It’s a whole other level of depression. »

This follows a rise in store thefts amid high inflation during the cost of living crisis.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has made shoplifting an issue in next month’s general election, claiming the Tories’ anti-crime policies were in effect a “shoplifter’s charter”.

Under current plans, shoplifting of goods worth less than £200 will generally not result in a police investigation.

Addressing retail union Usdaw’s annual conference in Blackpool, Sir Keir said: “I put shoplifters on notice. You could get by under this weak Conservative government.

“But if Labor takes power, we will not stand idly by while crime takes over our streets.

“We will deploy 13,000 additional neighborhood police officers to fight crime on your streets.

“We will scrap the Shoplifter’s Charter – the £200 rule that prevents the police from investigating theft from your workplace.

“And we will legislate to ensure that assault and abuse against store workers is a criminal offense in its own right, because you deserve to feel safe at work.”

Recent data shows that shoplifting figures are the highest in the last 20 years.

Of the 408,690 shoplifting offenses recorded by police in England and Wales in 2023 which received a disposition, 16 per cent (65,521) were charged or summoned while 58 per cent (238 794) investigations were closed without any suspects being identified. This compares to 15 percent and 55 percent respectively in 2022.

Tesco has been contacted for comment.