Bury St Edmunds shoplifting problems to be discussed by Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore in visit to town as Denny Bros Supplies targeted again

A Bury St Edmunds businesswoman whose store has lost nearly £2,000 of items to shoplifters has spoken of its ‘devastating’ impact after they were targeted again – as Suffolk’s police leader is set to visit the town over the issue.

Denny Bros Supplies, on King’s Road corner, was hit by a shoplifter on Friday who filled a bag with about £400 to £500 worth of art sets in front of a staff member and ran off when confronted.

In the last six months, nearly £2,000 worth of stock has been stolen from the art supplies store, which its managing director Joy Denny said was a ‘hell of a lot of money’ for a small business.

“It’s quite devastating on a personal level as a family and shop owners but also to our staff who really care about the business,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mark Cordell, chief executive of Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District (BID), is set to meet with Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner in Bury next week to find common ground on retail crime.

Mr Cordell wrote to Tim Passmore after he became concerned that there was an increase in thefts from town shops which were not being reported by their owners.

The former police officer of more than 30 years, feels that due to this the true picture of the issue in the town was not being shown, with his members unhappy with what they call ‘long- winded processes’ to report the crimes.

He said: “I have recently met with the local police inspector and he has reiterated the importance of reporting all retail crime as policing resources are always being reviewed and allocated on the basis of what crimes are being committed.”

BID members had found reporting such crimes difficult and not user friendly with the 101 system or filling out online forms, he said.

“I hope we can find some common ground in a two-way conversation on all of this, so that both business owners and the police can communicate better and find more proactive solutions to reduce the opportunities for retail crime here,” said Mr Cordell.

Ms Denny said their shop had always been lucky in terms of how little crime it had faced but there had been more problems this year than staff could remember in recent times.

She believed more people were turning to crime due to the cost-of-living crisis and stealing items which previously were of less interest to shoplifters.

They had been putting fewer items on the shelves but had just restocked for Christmas to boost sales when the shoplifter struck.

"It's horrible to experience and watch it and feel frustration that there isn't anything we can really do about it," Ms Denny said.

"Financially, it can be crippling. When you're buying products from suppliers, you're reliant on having money from the sales."

She also raised issues with the police response as the crime was reported within minutes of it happening but rather than a police officer being sent out, a follow-up call was made with Ms Denny the next day. She said she thought the culprit, who was on foot, could have still been in the town and found, with the goods returned, if an officer had been dispatched.

She was also asked for a CCTV clip that could identify the shoplifter and show him putting the items into the bag but Miss Denny knows they won't have the camera angle required.

Too much emphasis was being placed on the CCTV element when police could respond quickly and apprehend the culprit, she said.

The incident was at about 4pm and the shoplifter was a man in his early 30s, white, 5ft 10in, slim and was wearing a beanie hat and tracksuit bottoms.

A Suffolk Police spokesman said they contacted Miss Denny to ask her to send in any CCTV images that she had which could help with the investigation.

"We would urge any victims of crime to contact us," he added.

Contact police quoting reference 37/68349/23.

Reporting by Kevin Hurst and Paul Derrick