'Budgets are having to tighten...we're finding a lot more first-time offenders'

gangs are known to raid dozens of stores in one day.

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Mr Burton said: “Let’s say they leave from somewhere in Kent, jump in a van and drive up the East Coast of the country, hitting multiple stores in a single day. Their route then goes across to the Midlands and then back down south on the M6 to the M25 and they basically do a big loop, getting home with sometimes £15,000 worth of stolen stock.”

Champagne is a favourite hit for Eastern European gangs but British mobs also steal vodka, whisky, rum, tea and coffee that they sell for cash at around 50% of the shop prices on housing estates, in pubs - and online.