Shoplifting: Sussex garden centre frustrated with police response

Garden centre chain bosses who claim to have been targeted by an "organised crime" gang of shoplifters say the police handling of it has been "extremely frustrating".

Tates of Sussex said it had spent thousands of pounds hiring a security team following a rise in thefts.

The family-run business said a group had stolen more than £2,000 in goods from two of its centres this month.

Sussex Police said it was investigating and took reports "extremely seriously".

Company director Ben Tate said a group had taken weedkiller worth £450 from Mayberry Garden Centre in Portslade on 13 February.

CCTV footage shows the same people stealing more than £1,800 of irrigation products from Old Barn Garden Centre in Horsham on 24 February, according to Mr Tate.

But he said despite providing police with images, and registration plates of vehicles, the force had not assigned an officer to investigate the first incident.

"It was extremely frustrating," said Mr Tate.

"We have the CCTV. We did give them the cars' registrations when I made the initial report.

"Yet somehow these people have turned up nearly two weeks later in the same cars and done the same thing."

He described the incidents as "more organised crime than it is shoplifting" and said he believed the group had been involved in three other bulk thefts since 2021.

But instances of low-value shoplifting at Tates have increased in the same timeframe, said Mr Tate, who added "label swapping" - where more expensive price labels are swapped for cheaper ones - had become commonplace.

It comes as the latest crime figures for regional forces in England and Wales showed Sussex Police had experienced the biggest year-on-year increase in recorded shoplifting offences in the year ending September 2023, at 69%.

"It's difficult for us as a business because we're trying to give customers a good price and pay people good [wages]," added Mr Tate.

Alongside the losses, Tates said it had invested "tens of thousands" of pounds on a new team of security guards and new CCTV cameras to try to curb the issue.

Sussex Police said it had received reports of an "ongoing series" of shopliftings at the garden centres.

It said the information had been recorded and its business crime team was "thoroughly investigating" both incidents.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.