LOCAL shops will be united under a new protection scheme to ward off shoplifters this Christmas as police encourage store owners to work together to catch thieves.

Launched in Royal Wootton Bassett this week, the Shop Watch scheme has been trialled in areas of Swindon over previous years and aims to mirror the successful Pub Watch programme; allowing establishments to share information on troublemakers more easily.

Neighbourhood officers have been visiting shops passing on details about the most prolific offenders in the area, and will be handing over responsibility for raising the alarm to store owners and CCTV operators.

They will have the ability to share information and involve police when a crime has been committed.

Sgt Donna West of the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade neighbourhood policing team said the launch was timed ahead of the peak in offences over the festive period.

“In essence it is the same as Pub Watch and allows them all to work together over the Christmas period, when we traditionally get a lot more shoplifting,” she said.

“We had this mind as a way to try to get everyone on board, and everyone in the area signed up to it when it went live on Tuesday. Areas of Swindon have done this previously, but we wanted to set it up in Bassett because it is already a really close-knit community who work very closely together, so it seems the ideal place to introduce the scheme.

“CCTV in Bassett is already very good and the idea is to carry this forward past the Christmas period. It just gives them more opportunity to talk to each other and share information.”

The project will run in tandem with the Wiltshire Police community messaging system, which has now been rolled out across the county and allows local officers, neighbourhood watch and residents to communicate instantly with each other on particular issues.

Acting Sgt Georgie Romani, beat manager for Royal Wootton Bassett, added: “The idea is that we assist in setting it up, and putting it alongside the community messaging service, but really it is something they will all end up taking ownership for.

“We will provide an initial pack highlighting the prolific shoplifters in the area, and if they see anything suspicious they will have a phone listing to call CCTV operators, who will then monitor that person if they enter another premises or do anything they shouldn’t be.

“It is really all about prevention, and the volunteers manning the CCTV are amazing and very keen to get involved.”

PC Romani said the scheme would not reduce the every-day policing duties over Christmas, and increased patrols are planned to combat the rise in shop thefts.

“We are obviously going to support them, and through Christmas as standard we will be doing increased foot patrols,” she said.

“It is a great community round here, but people sometimes do not necessarily know how to raise awareness of these sort of issues. Giving them that control back gives them the power, and any reduction in crime in the area can only be a good thing.”