Data shows city centre is shoplifting 'hotspot'

LATEST HOME OFFICE FIGURES SHOW OFFENCES 'SOARED' I

- By RICHARD AULT and PAUL GREAVES

CRIME figures show there was more shoplifting in Plymouth city centre than almost anywhere else in the South West last year - as retail crime continues to spiral amid a theft “epidemic”.

Home Office figures show that shoplifting offences have soared across the nation since the pandemic.

In the year ending March 2025, more than 530,000 crimes of shop lifting were recorded by police in England and Wales, a 19% increase from 444,000 the previous year and the highest number on record.

That includes 2,167 shoplifting offences in Plymouth alone last year, a 22% rise. Street-level crime figures show that in the 12 months to October, the City Centre, Barbican and Sutton Harbour experienced more shop theft than anywhere else in the city and the Devon and Cornwall police force area.

According to Home Office figures, police recorded 630 crimes of shoplifting in the year to October. That was the fourth-highest number of offences in the South West region.

In Plymouth, Efford, Laira and Crabtree was next with 151 crimes of shoplifting, followed by Lipson with 127 offences, and Ford and Block house Park (123).