Teabags have been slapped with supermarket security tags to foil shoplifters
TEABAGS have been slapped with supermarket security tags to foil shoplifters.
Packs of Yorkshire Tea at Tesco have been stuck with yellow stickers that set off alarms if pinched.
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The boxes, containing 80 of the popular brews, cost £3.50 in Tesco Express stores — where the tags have been spotted in South East London.
It comes as cases of shoplifting surged to record levels, with 1,300 thefts being reported to police across the country every day.
A retail source told The Sun: “Which products are secured with stickers is reviewed regularly, based on what’s most likely to be taken.
“So with big multipacks, they are more likely to be broken into or tampered with than small packs. Ultimately it doesn’t change anything for honest customers and the stickers can just be deactivated at the checkout.”
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Olive oil, toothpaste, blocks of cheese and even tins of Spam have been tagged or put into anti-theft boxes as more items are snatched after prices soared.
Graham Wynn, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Shoplifting poses a huge issue to businesses and communities and inadequate police action has given criminals a free rein.
“Our latest survey showed losses to theft doubled in the last year to £1.8billion, and retailers had to spend a further £1.2billion on anti-crime measures.
“Not only has the number of thefts increased, but thieves are becoming bolder, more aggressive and more frequently armed.
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“We call on the police to get tough on retail crime.”
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A source close to Tesco said products got security stickers attached on a store-by-store basis.