Staff at a Brent Knoll garden centre have had to confront three separate groups of shoplifters within a two hour period, with one incident resulting in an assault on a member of staff.
Sanders Garden Centre says it has seen an increase in attempted thefts, prompting the management to take a number of measures to crack down on these individuals.
Garden centre manager Karen Hamer told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We have already made two successful prosecutions earlier this year with the help of the local police, but following an assault on a member of staff we have been forced to employ plainclothes store security.”
“It was of particular concern to me that two of the recent attempted robberies were carried out by couples with children who seemed to have a complete disregard for their wellbeing.”
“They were happy to try to steal items in full view of their children and to hurl abuse at staff when confronted.”
“We would be very interested to discuss the possibility of forming a communication group between local businesses in and around the Burnham area using social media.”
“Information about shoplifters operating in the local area could be shared very quickly and could help to deter this type of criminal activity. We also intend to display CCTV images of those who steal from us for the public to help us try to name and shame the perpetrators.”
Sanders was recently acquired by the Blue Diamond group, who operate 30 garden centres in the UK and Channel Islands.
Karen added:Â “A huge amount of improvements have already been made in the very short time since our acquisition, including a much improved and better quality range of products and prices throughout the centre. We also have many more exciting improvements to come in the New Year, so watch this space!”
